Note that the war hysteria is a top down phenomenon led by Emmanuel Macron of France, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and several of their peers with the enthusiastic support of major media for whom every allegation of the threat from Russian is newsworthy. At the street level, here in Brussels I see no angst in the folks around me: aside from the still shocking price inflation you find at every visit to the supermarket, the good times roll on.
Translation below into German (Andreas Mylaeus)
Ein Gespräch mit Sputnik Globe über Kriegshysterie in Westeuropa
Ich freue mich, den Lesern den folgenden Link zu einem soeben veröffentlichten Interview mit der russischen Online-Zeitschrift Sputnik zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Man beachte, dass die Kriegshysterie ein von oben gesteuertes Phänomen ist, angeführt von Emmanuel Macron aus Frankreich, der estnischen Premierministerin Kaja Kallas und einigen ihrer Amtskollegen mit der begeisterten Unterstützung der großen Medien, für die jede Behauptung über die Bedrohung durch Russland eine Nachricht wert ist. Auf der Straße, hier in Brüssel, sehe ich keine Angst bei den Menschen um mich herum: Abgesehen von der immer noch schockierenden Preisinflation, die man bei jedem Besuch im Supermarkt feststellen kann, gehen die guten Zeiten weiter.
Gilbert Doctorow's latest book, "War Diaries. The Russia-Ukraine War, 2022-2023" is a unique contribution to literature on the war thanks to the author's reports on the Russian home front written during his periodic visits to St Petersburg at a time when Russia no longer issued visas and nearly all Western journalists had left the country. Doctorow's two-volume "Memoirs of a Russianist" published in 2020 also constitutes a category of its own, consisting largely of diary entries rather than reminiscences written decades later.. Volume 2 focuses on the community of 50,000 expatriate managers working and living in Moscow during the 1990s, about which none of his peers has yet to write.
Gilbert Doctorow is a professional Russia watcher and actor in Russian affairs going back to 1965. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1967), a past Fulbright scholar, and holder of a Ph.D. with honors in history from Columbia University (1975).
After completing his studies, Mr. Doctorow pursued a business career focused on the USSR and Eastern Europe. For twenty-five years he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility.
From 1998-2002, Doctorow served as the Chairman of the Russian Booker Literary Prize in Moscow. During the 2010-2011 academic year, he was a Visiting scholar of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University.
Mr. Doctorow is a long-time resident of Brussels.
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4 thoughts on “A chat with Sputnik Globe on war hysteria in Western Europe”
Excellent article. Thanks. I signed up for the U.S. Marines at 18 years old b/c I was told, “If we don’t stop the Communists over in Vietnam, they’ll be at our doorstep.” I’ll be 70 in less than two months and the same stupid ploy is still being used and still being believed about Russia.
Essential reading, as usual. With a multitude of elections in Europe forthcoming, and the presidential campaing in the US is full swing, the big question is of course how all this will play out. Will the EU, will NATO implode? Will sensible voices stand up and put an end to US domination of Europe once and for all?
Abridged: “Actually, for the success of our cause, it would be nice if the restless French dispatched a couple of regiments to ‘Banderaland.’ It would be very problematic to hide such a number of servicemen, so systematically eliminating them would not be the most difficult task, but surely the most important one. But, just think of the beneficial knock-on effect!” he wrote on his Telegram channel. As Medvedev noted, with so many coffins to be delivered to France from a foreign country it would be impossible to hide the mass deaths of professional soldiers. “There will be no chance of getting away with various lame excuses and speculations that mercenaries choose their own fate and are risking their lives at their own discretion. “
“As for the Gallic roosters in the French leadership, it would be tantamount to being guillotined. They would be torn to pieces both by enraged relatives and angry members of the opposition, who have been assured all along that France is not at war with Russia. “He suggested the immortal lines of 19th century classic Russian writer Alexander Pushkin will prove their timeless relevance once again:
Gilbert Doctorow 
Excellent article. Thanks. I signed up for the U.S. Marines at 18 years old b/c I was told, “If we don’t stop the Communists over in Vietnam, they’ll be at our doorstep.” I’ll be 70 in less than two months and the same stupid ploy is still being used and still being believed about Russia.
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Essential reading, as usual. With a multitude of elections in Europe forthcoming, and the presidential campaing in the US is full swing, the big question is of course how all this will play out. Will the EU, will NATO implode? Will sensible voices stand up and put an end to US domination of Europe once and for all?
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From Kay – I will read your Sputnik column with great interest, but want to add this comment now:
Isn’t France’s Macron furious because African countries want to get French influence out of their county, and because Africans have good relations with Russia? On another note, A TASS article of 20 March made me smile. Medvedev, Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman has a great way with words and out-trumped Macron’s militancy. Potential deployment of French troops to Ukraine may be of benefit to Russia — Medvedev – Russian Politics & Diplomacy – TASS
Abridged: “Actually, for the success of our cause, it would be nice if the restless French dispatched a couple of regiments to ‘Banderaland.’ It would be very problematic to hide such a number of servicemen, so systematically eliminating them would not be the most difficult task, but surely the most important one. But, just think of the beneficial knock-on effect!” he wrote on his Telegram channel. As Medvedev noted, with so many coffins to be delivered to France from a foreign country it would be impossible to hide the mass deaths of professional soldiers. “There will be no chance of getting away with various lame excuses and speculations that mercenaries choose their own fate and are risking their lives at their own discretion. “
“As for the Gallic roosters in the French leadership, it would be tantamount to being guillotined. They would be torn to pieces both by enraged relatives and angry members of the opposition, who have been assured all along that France is not at war with Russia. “He suggested the immortal lines of 19th century classic Russian writer Alexander Pushkin will prove their timeless relevance once again:
“Then send your numbers without number,
Your maddened sons, your goaded slaves,
In Russia’s plains there’s room to slumber,
And well they’ll know their brethren’s graves!”
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