ABSTRACT
The scale of the Russian threat is assessed, and some general explanations of the Russia scare advanced. The first explanation focuses on the Giradian scapegoat mechanism; the second looks to the unfinished character of Cold War I, with the institutional and ideational instruments revived to fight Cold War II; a third factor looks at the monistic and axiological character of post-Cold War Atlanticism; while a fourth mechanism is ontological exclusivity, where incommensurate approaches to political reality exclude empathy for the perspective of the other. The Russia scare will endure, and is now complemented by a growing China scare.
