V. SH. GEVORGYAN, Lieutenant Colonel (Res.), Research Fellow, Center for Research on the History of Military Art, NDRU, MOD, RA

SUMMARY

The question of interrelation between the war and ideology is of key significance for political and military sciences. The ideology as a form of social conscience on different stages of history would serve as a basis both for social cohesion and for military clashes.

The study of wars, especially of the 19th and 20th centuries, clearly indicates that ideologies, more consolidated, hinging on more significant for the given nation spiritual and civilizational values, as well as more clearly and understandably formulated ideologies, are capable of ensuring victory of the weaker over the strong.

Considering the historical experience of the confrontation of leading ideologies in wars we assume that it is actual and urgent to:

evaluate the ideological factor during the strategic planning, pursuant to which when doing analysis of the military power of potential enemies, take into account not only the correlation of their physical (material) potentials (powers), but also the weight of their leading ideologies, which may considerably affect the essence and outcome of the military and military-political struggle;

when preparing for and repulsing a potential enemy’s aggression, widely use well-developed mechanisms of propaganda and counterpropaganda, as long as they can, to a decisive extent, facilitate the mobilization of its society, the soldiers’ motivation, the spread of anti-war sentiments among the enemy population and servicemen, as well as the protection of its population and Armed Forces from the enemy propaganda influence.