In June 2015, the Russian media spread the news that by the decision of the Asbest City Court of the Sverdlovsk Region, the text of the document known as the “Allen Dulles Doctrine” was recognized as extremist material. Accordingly, a ban was imposed on its use for any purpose. What kind of document is this, fraught with danger to society, and who is Mr. Dulles, who has stained himself by its creation? Let's try to figure it out.
Bestseller created by a young politician
Allen Dulles, whose biography became known to the general public only after completing his career as the head of one of the world’s most famous intelligence services, called the CIA, was from a family whose representatives held prominent posts in the American diplomatic service for many decades.
He was born on April 7, 1893 in the city of Watertown, New York State. An interesting detail, but already at the age of eight, having heard enough of the political disputes of adults, Allen outlined his own point of view on paper, and his notes, published in a separate pamphlet, became a bestseller. In them, he most decisively spoke on the side of those whom he considered "offended."
Scout in the guise of a diplomat
After graduating from Princeton University in 1914, Dulles traveled a lot, visiting India, China and the Far East. Returning to the United States, he apparently, not without the patronage of relatives, entered the diplomatic service and spent the next years holding various posts in Vienna, Berlin, and also Constantinople. As a representative of the United States, Allen participated in negotiations related to the end of the First World War. However, by his own admission, he had to deal with intelligence rather than diplomatic activities.
Along with public service, Allen Dulles graduated from the law department of George Washington University and for some time was a member of a law firm, but, apparently, without feeling a call to this occupation, he soon left him. Continuing his main activity, during the thirties he took part in a number of major international conferences.
Head of American Intelligence
At the beginning of World War II, Dulles was enlisted in the staff of the newly created Office of Strategic Services, and two years later he was the head of his intelligence center in Bern. However, a truly turning point in his career was the creation after the war of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), subordinate directly to the president and intended both to carry out his direct activities and to carry out covert operations. It was then, according to many researchers, that the notorious Allen Dulles Doctrine was conceived. 1945, thus, became the date of her birth.
Eight years spent at the head of American intelligence became the peak of his career, which was interrupted in 1961 after an unsuccessful attempt to invade the US armed forces in Cuba. Despite the fact that, according to experts, the main fault in the failure of the operation lay directly with the US President, Dulles was dismissed.
Author of a nonexistent document
Eight years after leaving the civil service, the former head of the CIA became the author of a number of books on foreign policy issues, as well as a participant in many television and radio programs. It is believed that it was in them that the notorious military doctrine of Allen Dulles sounded. However, according to the researchers, such a document with its signature does not exist.
A closer examination of the doctrine attributed to him related to possible military action against the USSR, it becomes obvious that we are talking about a memorandum prepared in August 1948 by the US National Security Council. It is he who is often referred to as the Doctrine of Allen Dulles - Director of the CIA.
The year 1945, in which the Second World War ended, became, in fact, decisive in the matter of further relations between the USA and the Soviet Union. It was during this period that yesterday's allies were to make key decisions in the field of their foreign policy. In this regard, at one of the meetings of the Congress, a report was attributed to Allen Dulles, although, according to researchers, who had no relation either to him personally or to the organization he led.
Articles of Memorandum 20/1
According to the text of this document, declassified today and known as Memorandum 20/1, the tasks facing the American government were divided into two groups. The first was a list of measures necessary in the event of a war with the Soviet Union and victory over it. The possibility of their own defeat was not taken into account. The second group considered the tasks that were to be solved if the course of events did not lead to a military confrontation.
Variant of events without military intervention
This so-called peaceful option, however, provided for a number of specific measures aimed at reducing the military power and international influence of Moscow. Considering the USSR as a carrier of a threat to peace, the memorandum outlined ways to influence its government with the aim of introducing changes into the theory and practice of its international politics.
Let us note along the way that overseas politicians considered legitimate actions such as organizing the overthrow of the Prime Minister of Iran, Mossadyk (1953), the President of Guatemala Arbenz (1954), as well as a number of other leaders who were objectionable to them. Even the failed invasion of Cuba did not cause remorse in them.
Power option
As for the military plot of the development of events, the Memorandum 20/1, often presented as the “Allen Dulles Doctrine”, did not imply the occupation of the whole country, due to the extreme vastness of its territory. It also pointed to the impossibility of forcibly planting democracy among its population in the form in which it was adopted in the West.
The reason for this was the lack of historical traditions necessary for this. Note that overseas analysts did not take into account the main factor - the absolute impossibility of imposing something by force in the minds of our people. Turning to the history of Russia, they could easily see this.
Historical fake
Now let us dwell in more detail on a document entitled “The Allen Dulles Doctrine”, the text of which, according to the decision of the Asbestov City Court, was justifiably classified as an extremist material. Despite the fact that the authorship of this work, which appeared during the Cold War and aimed at implicitly decaying the population of our country, is attributed to the former head of the CIA, this raises some doubts among modern researchers.
Firstly, the English text of the document, at least in the version in which it gained fame, has not been officially presented anywhere, and all supporters of its authenticity refer exclusively to the Russian translation. Secondly, in a detailed study of the Allen Dulles Doctrine by separate excerpts, it surprisingly resembles the lines from the work of A.S. Ivanov's "Eternal Call", in the edition that saw the light of day in 1981.
Political thought plagiarism
In particular, many researchers draw a parallel between what the post-war doctrine of Allen Dulles contains and the text embedded by Anatoly Ivanov in the mouth of the negative character of his novel Eternal Call - a former White Guard who is in the service of the Germans. In both cases, calls are made for the subjugation of the Soviet people by its moral decomposition, and a comparison of the texts indicates their full semantic identity.
In addition, the Doctrine of Allen Dulles - the director of the CIA, strikingly echoes the statements of the hero of the novel F.M. Dostoevsky's “Demons” - Peter Verkhovensky. To make sure of this, it is enough, having opened the work, to dwell on his words that, in order to establish power over the people, he and others like him intend to turn him into "cruel, selfish scum."
By achieving this goal, Verkhovensky sees planting among the broad masses of drunkenness, debauchery and denunciation. The main thing is the substitution of imaginary moral guidelines and actions aimed at breaking the people from their original spiritual roots.
And finally, similar motifs are heard in the novel “At the Black Knights” by Yuri Dold-Mikhailik, which appeared on the shelves of bookstores in our country in 1965. In it, one of the characters, also outlining the paths leading to the moral decay of society, among other measures, emphasizes the substitution of true religiosity inherent in the people, their involvement in totalitarian sects. Moreover, in the absence of such, their immediate creation is recommended.
In search of a fake author
All this, so to speak, the “program of action”, to one degree or another, includes the “Allen Dulles Doctrine” we are considering. There is no doubt that its text is, in fact, plagiarized compilation of individual excerpts taken by the author (or authors) from various Russian-language literary sources. In this regard, the authorship of the American diplomat and intelligence officer becomes even less likely.
Who, then, is the compiler of a provocative essay called the Allen Dulles Doctrine? This question is unlikely to find a definite answer. But the goals pursued by the author become quite obvious if we turn to the early nineties, in the context of which this document was widely distributed.
Confrontation Reduction
Shortly before this, at the end of the eighties, the so-called Cold War ended - the period of political confrontation between the countries of the Eastern Camp and the Western, led by the United States. The notorious Iron Curtain has become a thing of the past, and in the relations of the two sides, not only warming has become apparent, but also the tendencies of the obvious rapprochement of yesterday’s opponents.
Unfortunately, practice has shown that even during the perestroika period, the relaxation of tension that accompanied these positive processes did not suit everyone. Very soon, in both camps, her overt and covert opponents showed up, using all means available to them for their struggle.
Overseas fake
It is quite possible that some fake people, drawn up as the “Allen Dulles Doctrine” (director of the CIA), were compiled and put into circulation by people who aim to set up public opinion among the CIS countries against the American government. Despite the fact that its text is a series of excerpts from Russian-language literary works with which an American official could hardly be familiar, it is possible that the author should still be sought across the ocean.
Arguments such as the Allen Dulles Doctrine, the CIA, and ideological sabotage are an entirely suitable set of horror stories to influence the minds of people who have for many years been influenced by Soviet propaganda, which represented the Western world as a potential enemy. Overseas opponents of the positive processes unfolding in the early nineties could well play on this stereotype of thinking.
The calculation was not justified to the extent that the creators of this fake expected, and Allen Dulles did not become a symbol of the danger emanating from the Western world. Today, the settlement of relations between America and Russia still represents a wide field of activity for diplomats of both countries, but the reasons are completely different.