Evropska bezbednost i ideološka borba
European Security and Ideological Struggle

Summary/Abstract: A qualitative growth of the role and importance of ideological struggle in foreign politics is one of the main features of international relations today. This new role and place of ideological struggle gives rise to new means and methods in foreign relations, and sets new tasks and lines to the international activities of the world community. Ideological and propaganda activity has become a new powerful tool of foreign policy and diplomacy, engaging substantial manpower and resources, and many moves in foreign relations are made in order to influence the public opinion in one's country — and also in friendly and rival countries. Soviet policy takes increasing account of these phenomena in the field of foreign relations, employing to a growing extent ideological methods in its international activity. However, while accepting the Western thesis for the »ideologisation« of foreign politics, of the growing integration and interaction of ideology and international activity, Soviet authors do not accept the Western attitude, according to which ideological differences were at the root of international conflicts, or the claim that ideological struggle determined the course of foreign policies. In their view, the causes of international disputes are the economic and social-political interests of the ruling classes, which are currently being presented in an ideological guise. The new role and growing importance of ideological struggle at present are, in the estimate of Soviet authors, the reflection and manifestation of the division of the world into two socio-political systems. The victory of the socialist revolutions and the establishment of socialists countries have determined the character of our age and produced its basic contradiction — the conflict of the socio-political systems of capitalism. This conflict of system is in fact a conflict between classes formed into states — the bourgeoisie and the working class. The arena of their struggle has become today »the whole world, all the main areas of social life — the economy, politics, ideology, culture«. Nevertheless, despite being a manifestation of class struggle between two systems, by the methods it employs, ideological struggle may play a certain independent role and become a source of some international conflicts; it can have the effect of intensifying or alleviating conflicts.

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