Creating Russophobia : from the Great Religious Schism to anti-Putin hysteria / by Guy Mettan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mettan, Guy, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public opinion--Western countries--History.

Public opinion.

Russia--Foreign public opinion, European--History.

Russia.

Russia--Foreign public opinion, American--History.

Soviet Union--Foreign public opinion--History.

Soviet Union.

Russia--Relations--Western countries.

Western countries--Relations--Russia.

Western countries.

Soviet Union--Relations--Western countries.

Western countries--Relations--Soviet Union.

Fear--Political aspects--Western countries--History.

Fear.

Place of Publication:

Clarity Press

Summary:

"Why do the USA, UK and Europe so hate Russia? How it is that Western antipathy, once thought due to anti-Communism, could be so easily revived over a crisis in distant Ukraine, against a Russia no longer communist? Why does the West accuse Russia of empire-building, when 15 states once part of the defunct Warsaw Pact are now part of NATO, and NATO troops now flank the Russian border? These are only some of the questions Creating Russophobia iinvestigates. Mettan begins by showing the strength of the prejudice against Russia through the Western response to a series of events: the Uberlingen mid-air collision, the Beslan hostage- taking, the Ossetia War, the Sochi Olympics and the crisis in Ukraine. He then delves into the historical, religious, ideological and geopolitical roots of the detestation of Russia in various European nations over thirteen centuries since Charlemagne competed with Byzantium. Mettan examines the geopolitical machinations expressed in those times through the medium of religion, leading to the great Christian schism between Germanic Rome and Byzantium and the European Crusades against Russian Orthodoxy. This history of taboos, prejudices and propaganda directed against the Orthodox Church provides the mythic foundations that shaped Western disdain for contemporary Russia. From the religious and imperial rivalry created by Charlemagne and the papacy to the genesis of French, English, German and then American Russophobia, the West has been engaged in more or less violent hostilities against Russia for a thousand years. Contemporary Russophobia is manufactured through the construction of an anti-Russian discourse in the media and the diplomatic world, and the fabrication and demonization of The Bad Guy, now personified by Vladimir Putin"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

FOREWORD: Russophobia or Russomadness?

PART ONE. THE POWER OF PREJUDICE

Understanding Russia

The Pavlovian Russophobic Reflex

Media Blinders on Ukraine

PART TWO. A SHORT HISTORY OF RUSSOPHOBIA

A War of Religion since Charlemagne

French Russophobia and the Myth of Eastern Despotism

English Russophobia : The Obsession with Empire

German Russophobia : From Lebensraum to Historical Amnesia

American Russophobia : The Dictatorship of Freedom

PART THREE. COGNITIVE MANIPULATION

Semantics and Anti-Russian Newspeak

The Myth of the Fierce Bear

Conclusion: Co-existence, Multipolarity, and Peace.

ISBN:

0-9978965-5-8