NATO summitin June, a decision is likely to be made about the deployment of new bases in eastern Europe. To make it happen, one needs to create a convincing image of Russia's aggressive behavior. Pravda.Ru talked about it in an interview with political scientist, member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for Affairs of Nationalities, Kirill Koktysh.
"NATO has been increasing its pressure on Russia in the military sphere. Every day, we can learn about the deployment of rapid reaction forces in Eastern Europe, including the Baltic countries - close to our borders. Army bases appear in Romania and Poland. Deputy US Defense Secretary Robert Work said that Russia has taken the world to the brink of war, that NATO moves its troops close to Russian borders to protect the Western civilization from such an aggressor as Russia. Is there another war brewing in the world?"
"Indeed, the hysteria about the Russian threat has been spinning out of control. At the NATO summit in June, Western officials will decide to place more bases near the countries of Eastern Europe. To make this decision real, they need to sell the image of aggressive Russia to common people.
"NATO is not only a military and political, but also, quite clearly, an economic organization. Within the NATO format, the United States sells its allies a guarantee of security: if you belong to NATO, no one will risk to attack you.
"This guarantee does not come for free - it costs two percent of gross domestic product, and this is big money in annual terms. As far as we know, European allies have taken liberties not to pay extra to this budget in the last few years. They have their own rules. Germany, for example, must still buy products of the US defense industry, even though the country has an excellent defense industry of its own.
"In a nutshell, NATO is a system to finance the US economy and create jobs in the US defense industry. Economic logic has always been primary at this point. The main motive for the United States today is to maintain the wobbly economic situation and attract European allies.
"A US official has recently said that Europe must repay the debt for the Marshall Plan. Clearly, they intimidate Russia and want to make Russia an enemy. They are not doing it to wage war with Russia. The point is to convince Europe of its right choice. This is a very expensive choice, but there is no other choice for Europe, so to speak.
"These games can only increase the degree of no-confidence and the overall level of danger. Any system may malfunction. A global war is very unlikely due to the existence of nuclear weapons. Needless to say that in a nuclear war, there will be no winner. Therefore, the prime logic of the North Atlantic Alliance is all about economic matters.
"The purpose is to sell what they have at all costs. What they sell is not fresh, and they are aware of that. In addition to Russia, there is another friend for the Western civilization - China. The Celestial Empire is also interested in the European market. For Transatlantic Partnership States, China is as extremely undesirable country. After Obama's statements, it was revealed that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is needed against China."
"It turns out that Russia does not need to be concerned much about all this anti-Russian rhetoric, does it? Russia used to be called evil empire in the past, and now there is a campaign to sell weapons and conquer the Russian market."
"Russia does need to be concerned about all this. Is there excessive money that Russia has from trade relations with the EU? Conquering market takes years, but losing it takes seconds. Russia needs to address European policy-makers and common people to make them realize that they should be in charge of their own lives."
"But this is a globalized world that we live in, and it is difficult for each and separate country to conduct fully independent national policies."
"But any social institution consists of people sharing a variety of views. This is a globalized world indeed, and many countries have turned into one-product states, but this is a separate topic for discussion."
Interviewed by Lyuba Lulko
Pravda.Ru