Exacerbation of Natophobia

Russian television with undisguised pleasure every day tells about the misadventures of the sapper company of reservists of the American army, which, in preparation for the exercises of the Sea Breese, was to carry out work to modernize the training ground in Feodosia. And instead of work at the training ground, she was forced to hide all over the Crimea from angry residents. In fact, there is nothing more pleasant than watching how Cossacks, pensioners, as well as women with infants in their arms, drove the “vaul American military” into the boarding house, where these reptiles were also disconnected with the sewer. Moreover, demonstrators and picketers protest not so much against American-Ukrainian maneuvers as against the damned NATO.

It so happened that two weeks earlier I already had to observe anti -Nateic psychosis, and close. In different cities of Russia, by agreement of the Russian Foreign Ministry and NATO information bodies, the action was held: “Russia-NATO: combining efforts”. It was assumed that Western and domestic politicians, experts and military will introduce Russians with the results of the four -year activities of the Russian Council - NATO and thereby try to change the negative image of the alliance in the minds of Russian citizens. I participated in the seminar held in Pskov. And so, while its participants discussed the advantages of cooperation with each other for the hundredth time, real passions raged near the street. Fifty elderly communists and young National Bolsheviks frantically screamed: “NATO worse than the Gestapo”, “NATOs are out of Pskov”. The protesters did not enter into conversations, they did not answer questions, but they yelled louder.

I thought then that it is rather pointless to try to enlighten these people. If you tell them that there have never been either the NATO bases or the NATO troops, they simply will not believe it, they will consider it propaganda. After all, all of them from childhood remember the cartoons of Kukryniks with a terrible octopus, which pulls the tentacles to the country of Soviets. Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Alliance, which they hate so, is nothing more than a mechanism (however, rather complicated) for making decisions in the field of defense and security. And troops and bases have not NATO, but national affiliation-American, British, German or some other. And what these troops do together, for example, are bombing Yugoslavia, there is a result of a decision of two dozen states, which are unanimously taken. Therefore, not on NATO - just a tool for politics of specific states - you need to nod.

But the folk protest in a strange way attracts this abbreviation. You can, of course, talk about the ignorance of Natofobes. However, this is not exhausted by this: onophobes specially and intentionally cultivate their own ignorance. When, about thirty-five years ago, I read in the profiles of the AZLK workers “what is NATO, I don’t know, but it’s definitely something bad”, it seemed to me that the fault of Soviet propaganda is the fault. But then in newspapers, books, films I regularly found phrases like “NATO Division” or “NATO Aviation”. It was clear that this was not from ignorance. Four ominous letters turned into convenient euphemism, which allowed to swear on external enemies and not bear any responsibility, since accusations and threats are not specifically related to anyone. It is very significant that the phrase “NATO submarine” flashed when our admirals tried to dump the Kursk tragedy on some external forces.

In the last doctrinal document of the Russian army “Actual tasks of the development of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” (it is sometimes called the “White Book” of the Ministry of Defense) on one page states that Moscow needs to develop military cooperation with the United States, and on the other, that NATO (where the United States play a leading role) pursues an aggressive policy that should be repulsed. And this is not schizophrenia. To preserve the mass draft army, the Russian general desperately needs a global enemy. By power, the United States or China could claim this role. But it is impossible to call them aloud - both states are officially called strategic allies. So our generals about NATO recall.

It is not for nothing that the Crimean Cossacks are ready to fight with NATO, although the maneuvers of the Sea Breese have nothing to do with the North Atlantic Alliance. NATO for them is the personification of everything that annoys and humiliates. After all, someone should be to blame for the fact that Crimea-a kind of Soviet paradise-turned into a wretched and poor outback. Only the external enemy may be desired by the expulsion of the Black Sea Fleet from Sevastopol. Everything fell into place when the new Ukrainian leadership announced his intention to join the North Atlantic Alliance. The fool understands that all troubles are from the insidious NATO.

Is it possible to cure onfobia? In principle, yes. The entry into NATO Minister of Defense of Ukraine Anatoly Gritsenko associates the military reform. And one of the elements of this reform is the transition to the professional army. If the reform manages to implement, then sooner or later the Crimean aunts will see a simple relationship: while the NATO was opposed, the boys were taken into the army, and when they entered, they stopped taking it.