Experts and diplomats saw Russophobia as a global threat

The methods of ideological struggle now used against Russia can be used in the future by the West against the countries of the Global South, Africa and Asia. This forecast was made on Thursday by Alexander Asafov, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, as part of the presentation of his report “Modern Russophobia: “cancel culture” as a totalitarian cult.” The discussion participants, including foreign diplomats, heatedly condemned the anti-Russian discourse and agreed that “cancel culture” threatens world civilization with the darkest consequences.

Political scientist Alexander Asafov began the presentation of the report exposing Russophobia by addressing the alarming reality: “In the events of recent days, we see the implementation of ideas about the formation of a stable attitude towards Russian citizens as people of a different kind.” In his assessment, sanctions declared as an anti-state measure hit ordinary citizens regardless of “their personal attitude to any events.” That is, attempts to separate “good” Russians from “bad” ones have failed, since “the roots of the struggle with Russia” are intertwined with the idea of ​​​​the complete destruction of its sovereignty, the expert explained.

The current study, he said, is only the first approach to a systematic analysis of “cancel culture” in relation to entire states. According to Mr. Asafov, the audience of the report should have included Western thinkers, which is why the text often contains references to prominent representatives of the Western intellectual elite (in particular, the French philosopher Michel Foucault and the British writer George Orwell). At the same time, the political scientist noted the importance of his own conclusions for friendly states, since “this story did not begin and does not end with Russia.”

As the report notes, “cancel culture,” initially developed as a tool for “social obstruction of the undesirable,” is now being used for political purposes to “erase economic and civilizational competitors from world culture and history.” Specifically, in relation to the Russian Federation, the year zero method is applied – the enemy “cancels the existence of Russia in the historical dimension until February 24, 2022,” the author indicated: “In fact, the whole history from the point of view of Western political propaganda must be changed, the role of Russia is distorted, rewritten and removed if possible.” Traces of this totalitarian practice are clearly visible in the media field, where from February 2022 to August 2023, the researcher found “586 incidents related to the abolition of Russia.” But work to prepare for the “cancellation,” he is sure, was carried out before that – through the media, where 90% of materials about Russia contained a “negative connotation.”

As a result, Alexander Asafov stated that “cancel culture” is the forerunner of a “new religion of hatred”, within which the “bad-good” dichotomy reigns, and “any methods” are used against those who are “designated bad.” In the future, “the repressive practices that are now used against Russia” can be used by the West against the countries of the Global South, the political scientist warns.

The effect of the gloomy prophecy was somewhat dispelled by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who said that the plans of the adherents of a unipolar world have already been revealed: “How many countries have we visited and heard: just hang in there, we are with you, if not you, then who?” Moreover, even in the West they are gradually coming to “awareness of the neurasthenic nature of attempts to cancel Russian culture,” Mrs. Zakharova assured: “This is not just abolition of culture. This is anticulture, a desire to erase the entire civilizational experience of humanity, an attempt to bring anticulture.” In the resulting chaos, a Foreign Ministry representative suggests, it will be “easier for its beneficiaries to mold what they want to see.”

Foreign diplomats readily confirmed my colleague’s words. Thus, the Ambassador of Cuba to the Russian Federation, Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña, pointed out that the topic of Russophobia is also relevant for future generations (after all, the impact is mainly on the minds of young people), and recalled that Cuba is also “subject to an intense war on the part of transnational media corporations.” And the Ambassador of Bolivia, Maria Luisa Ramos Ursagaste, even requested a copy of the report in Spanish, noting that the indigenous peoples of her country well understand the context when “it comes to phobia and the destruction of cultures”: “If there is a unipolar world, there will be no peace, because we will not be”.

According to the discussion participants, the domestic Russian agenda was not alien to Russophobia. “Many of the factors mentioned in the report are not the creativity of Stanford and Columbia (University.— “Kommersant”),” argued OP member Armen Gasparyan. “This is what our compatriots came up with and implemented: Russian liberals, non-systemic opposition, and so on.” However, it is quite possible to resist destructive narratives, regardless of the source, assured, in turn, State Duma deputy Maria Butina (United Russia), convicted in 2019 in the United States for violating the rules for registering “foreign agents.” According to her, she felt the effect of the “cancellation” on herself, although there were unexpected advantages in this: “The Americans made a name for me, it just so happened.” Now the deputy regularly publishes information about living conditions and segregation in American prisons in order to “bring the truth to people.” The truth is the only way to defeat lies, Mrs. Butina solemnly concluded.

Grigory Leiba