Tela Network

In 1991 Georgy Arbatov, Gorbachev's diplomatic adviser, said: "We are going to do you the worst of services: we are going to deprive you of the Enemy." In response to this, General Maisonneuve, Canadian Army lieutenant general and NATO chief of staff, wrote: "The Soviet Enemy had all the qualities of the good enemy: solid, constant, coherent. Militarily, it resembles us and is built on the purest Clausewitzien model. Disturbing, yes, but known and predictable. Their disappearance weakens our cohesion and renders our power useless." - Elvira Roca Barea, 'Imperiofobia y Leyenda Negra. Roma, Rusia, Estados Unidos y El Imperio Español'. Chapter 5. (2016) (Translation and minor edits are mine)