Russophobia: Propaganda in International Politics

ISBN-13: 9789811914676 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022

Glenn Diesen

Opis

This book defines Russophobia as the irrational fear of Russia, a key theme in the study of propaganda in the West as Russia has throughout history been assigned a diametrically opposite identity as the “Other.” Propaganda is the science of convincing an audience without appealing to reason. The West and Russia have been juxtaposed as Western versus Eastern, European versus Asiatic, civilized versus barbaric, modern versus backward, liberal versus autocratic, and even good versus evil. During the Cold War, ideological dividing lines fell naturally by casting the debate as capitalism versus communism, democracy versus totalitarianism, and Christianity versus atheism. After the Cold War, anti-Russian propaganda aims to filter all political questions through the simplistic binary stereotype of democracy versus authoritarianism, which provides little if any heuristic value to understand the complexities of relations. A key feature of propaganda against the inferior “Other” is both contemptuous derision and panic-stricken fear of the threat to civilization. Russia has therefore throughout history been allowed to play one of two roles—either an apprentice of Western civilization by accepting the subordinate role as the student and political object, or a threat that must be contained or defeated. While propaganda has the positive effect of promoting unity and mobilizing resources toward rational and strategic objectives, it can also have the negative effect of creating irrational decision-making and obstructing a workable peace.

Spis treści

Chapter 1. Theorising propaganda. - Chapter 2. Stereotypes of anti-Russian propaganda. - Chapter 3. Source credibility: Herding the masses. - Chapter 4. Language and narratives in anti-Russian propaganda. - Chapter 5. Selling democracy: All nations are equal, but some are more equal than others. - Chapter 6. Russophobia against the political opposition. - Chapter 7. The conflict in Ukraine as a civilizational choice. - Chapter 8. The Syrian war and humanitarian interventionism. - Chapter 9. Propaganda and the risks from irrationality.

O autorze

Glenn Diesen is a professor in political economy and sociology at the University of South-Eastern Norway and an editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal. He has published eight books about Russian foreign policy, conservatism, and political economy.

Blurb

“This courageous piece of work proposes a deep and comprehensive approach of an upmost problem of contemporary international politics at a pivotal moment of our history. An indispensable book for understanding the present state of the world.”

– Guy Mettan, journalist and author of Creating Russophobia

“These days one needs a lot of intellectual and even personal courage to address the notion of Russophobia, which has become so common in the ongoing information war between Russia and the West. To Professor Diesen’s credit, his book presents an academically rigorous and well documented attempt to analyze the origins, evolution and modern manifestations of this complex phenomenon.”

– Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council

“Glenn Diesen continues the tradition of studying Western presentations of Russia as the inferior and aggressive Other. He sheds important light on 'Us' versus 'Them' strategies exploited by Western political and media circles in cases of RussiaGate, Ukraine, and Syria.”

– Andrei P. Tsygankov, San Francisco State University

“An incisive takedown of the neo-McCarthyite chauvinism that has consumed Western political culture, to the great detriment of honest journalism and global peace.”

– Aaron Maté, journalist at the Grayzone and former producer of Democracy Now

Propaganda is the science of convincing an audience without appealing to reason. Over the past centuries, anti-Russian propaganda has been founded on juxtaposing the West and Russia as European versus Asiatic, civilized versus barbaric, modern versus backward, liberal versus autocratic, and even good versus evil. Russia has therefore throughout history been allowed to play one of two roles―either an apprentice of Western civilization by accepting the subordinate role as the student and political object, or a threat that must be contained or defeated. While propaganda has the positive effect of promoting unity and mobilizing resources against an adversary, it has the negative effect of creating irrational decision-making and obstructing a workable peace.

Glenn Diesen is a Professor at the University of South-Eastern-Norway.