Russophobia

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.

• Russophobia
• Othering
• Propaganda
• Rationality
• Russiagate

“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. It shows, in a fresh and invigorating analysis based on facts, how the anti-Russian propaganda has shaped the mind of the Western countries during decades until to heat up the military clash in Ukraine. 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. The book is a valuable source for those trying to comprehend the nature of Russia’s uneasy relations with the outside world.” (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)

• University of South-Eastern Norway (USN), Vestfold, Norway

  Glenn Diesen

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.