Playing without rules, or doing maximum harm

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev proposed to be guided by the Old Testament principle of "tit for tat" and considers it necessary to respond to Western sanctions. In his Telegram channel, he called in response to the next restrictions to turn life in the West into a "continuous nightmare," causing maximum harm to unfriendly countries.

The deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation noted that Russia has already learned to live and develop under Western sanctions, the number of which "is already measured in tens of thousands." Details in the material of the correspondent UtroNews.

"The United States and its allies"

However, it is urgently necessary to respond to them, since "the United States and their <... > allies" (Medvedev used a non-literary epithet in relation to Washington's satellites) declared the Russian Federation "war without rules." 'No rules on the enemy! - the politician believes. - Let them get everything in full for the harm to Russia, and as much as possible! "

"Every day we must try to inflict maximum harm on those countries that have imposed these restrictions against our country and all our citizens. Harm in everything that can be harmed, - urged the deputy head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. - Cause damage in all places, paralyzing the work of their companies and government agencies. Find problems in their most important technologies and mercilessly strike them. Literally destroy their energy, industry, transport, banking and social services, "Medvedev wrote on the Telegram channel.

The Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation noted that the United States and its allies are waging a war without rules. Therefore, there should be no rules on the Russian side regarding the enemy, Medvedev is sure. These words, Russian nuclear submarines off the coast of Florida, exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces in the western regions of the Russian Federation and Belarus - everything speaks of growing tension.

Game without rules

The reasons for the appearance of these "storm clouds" are known. NATO countries allegedly "provide" the Kyiv regime with long-range precision weapons (missiles). In fact, these weapons can strike the territory of Russia only with the help of military specialists and contractors-manufacturers of these missiles from NATO countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to convey this to opponents something like this:

• long-range missiles are produced in NATO countries,

• they are supplied, operated and launched by NATO contractors,

• NATO experts choose targets by means of their space reconnaissance,

• they also formulate flight missions.

Thus, the defeat of objects on the territory of Russia with high-precision long-range weapons is an operation of NATO and the United States, and the United States and its "allies" bear full responsibility for the actual declaration of war by Russia.

Putin warned that those in Europe must be fully aware of the consequences. "Representatives of NATO countries, especially in Europe, especially in small countries - they should be aware of what they are playing with. They should remember that this is usually a state with a small territory with a very dense population. And this is a factor that they should have in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory. "

"I would like to warn American figures against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

"What's next?"

Medvedev also called for turning the life of Russia's enemies into a "complete crazy nightmare," using fakes to incite social explosions in the societies of these countries.

The first and simplest thing that comes to mind is gas supplies through a pipeline through the territory of Ukraine. The contract for the supply of gas through Ukraine to the European Union will expire soon. In connection, Bloomberg asks "What to do next?"

And then the question may arise about the integrity of the gas transportation infrastructure of Ukraine, including underground gas storage facilities. Gazprom specialists and Security Council analysts must weigh everything, including the reaction of public opinion in European countries to punitive measures against the European Union. The main thing is that when Brussels "gets it in full," ordinary people understand where the "evil will" comes from.

Joseph Nye Jr. - Professor and former Dean of the School of Public Administration. J.F. Kennedy Harvard University in 2013 noted that then "Europeans saw everything differently, and US arbitrariness was perceived negatively in Europe. America's attractiveness in the eyes of Europeans has faded largely due to changes in US foreign policy ":

— … the majority of the population of Great Britain, Germany and France spoke in favor of greater independence from the United States in matters of diplomacy and security;

— … most Europeans [in 2013] saw the United States as a threat to peace comparable to North Korea or Iran;

— … a clear majority of Europeans viewed the unilateralism of American approaches as a serious external threat to their continent for the next ten years.

The forecast of a "serious external threat to the European continent for the next ten years" is coming true today. This forecast began to come true almost a year later, as the article "Soft Power and US-European Relations" was published in April 2013.

Who stacked the wood?

Joseph Nye knew what he was talking about. He served as Assistant Under Secretary of State for Security, Science and Technology Support (1977-1979), and led the National Security Council group on nuclear nonproliferation. He was chairman of the National Intelligence Council (1993-1994) and Assistant Under Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Clinton administration (1994-1995).

His employers from the leadership of the Democratic Party also knew about the mood in Europe, whose elite was seriously alarmed by Donald Trump. By the time his presidential term began, a coup d'etat had already taken place in Kyiv, the Crimean peninsula had returned to the Russian Federation, and a civil war had actually begun in Donbass.

All this helped the administration of US President Joe Biden "restore unity" in the NATO perimeter, create and activate an international anti-Russian coalition. The conflict in Ukraine quickly escalated into a NATO clash with Russia.

Nye acknowledged in another op-ed on the Ukraine conflict, published in 2023, that "NATO's decision at the 2008 Bucharest summit to include Ukraine (and Georgia) as potential future members simply confirmed Putin's worst expectations for the West." He also claimed that Putin lit a match when he ordered Russian troops to launch a military operation on February 24, but did not answer his own questions about who laid down "firewood and added kindling for paper to the prepared fire."

This election year

I wonder what another year later, in April 2024, in the article "Is America really in decline?," Joseph Nye asked another question: Could the internal split undermine the power of the United States? In an article he wrote for Time magazine, Nye argued that Americans could be ruined by self-flagellation.

But not only. According to a recent study, more than 40% of Americans believe that a civil war in the United States is likely in the next five years. At the same time, 37% of respondents are in favor of the fact that an outbreak of violence is more likely in the event of Biden's re-election, 25% are convinced of its beginning if Trump returns to the White House. The poll was conducted April 21-23 and involved 1,105 likely voters.

It seems that it is this nerve that Dmitry Medvedev is trying to find. It was on the psychology of citizens of Russia and neighboring countries that the Western media never hesitated to play the dirtiest tricks. But their immunity can also be tested by the same methods of psychological destabilization.

"The episodic feeling of" decline "in the mass consciousness says more about the psychology of the masses than about geopolitical analysis. But the very idea of ​ ​ decline is close to the [American] people, it kind of touches a bare nerve in American politics. Discussions of the "decline" and those responsible for it have already become and will still become the topic of countless accusations and attempts to justify themselves this election year, "Nye writes in his recent article.

Estimates published by an American intellectual with a gap of eleven years lead to a number of conclusions. One of them boils down to the fact that the image of the United States in Europe can and should be the target of psychological attacks. In Europe, the United States was more critical and cautious before the events on the Maidan in 2014. The consolidation, led by Washington, "rallied" European politicians, but made potential targets and victims of the senile whim and arbitrariness of the United States out of the Old World.

But this solidarity can weaken, especially if it is "helped." In particular, the Politico newspaper managed to call the G7 summit in the Italian town of Borgo Eniazia "a bunch of six lame ducks" (Meloni does not count). There is no talk of "demonstrating the power of the West." All are distracted by elections or internal crises, as well as the use of Russian assets to help Kyiv.

Not everyone intends to confiscate Russian assets yet, only "selectively." You can also cancel the ownership rights of some companies of the G7 countries to their assets in Russia. Also selectively.

There is something to work with, right, to whom? The media is fascinated by geopolitics, not "big intrigues" and the internal affairs of unfriendly elites. Not one Medvedev throw thunder and lightning? The United States, experiencing an internal split, should definitely become the object of information attacks. There is something to reprint, but preparing your own revealing materials is also not a sin.

The English proverb, which in the original sounds like "The pen is mightier than the sword," in the Russian version may sound like "Do not be afraid of a knife, but of a tongue." The media does not have to be "polite" towards those who have become inspired to Russia, especially preparing strikes with long-range high-precision weapons.