7. Religion is attacked by portraying it as obsolete or oppressive, destroying spiritual anchors and replacing them with loyalty to the state or nihilism.

8. Family structures are weakened by promoting individualism, divorce, and alternative lifestyles, which fragment social cohesion.

9. Moral relativism blurs the lines between right and wrong, leading to apathy and an inability to unite against the true enemies of society.

10. History is rewritten to denigrate national heroes and traditions, generating doubt and guilt among the population.

11. Demoralization is followed by destabilization (2-5 years), which attacks the economy, foreign policy, and defense to generate internal chaos. 12. Economic sabotage increases class divisions, shrinks the middle class, and breeds resentment through inflation, shortages, or inequality.

13. Foreign policy is manipulated to isolate the nation, weaken alliances, and embolden adversaries.

14. Defense capabilities are eroded by budget cuts, internal divisions, or anti-military propaganda.

15. The crisis phase erupts into violence or revolt when a demoralized and destabilized society demands radical solutions*.

16. In the crisis, people willingly relinquish their freedoms in exchange for promised security, a prerequisite for authoritarian control.

17. Normalization is the final phase, in which subversive changes become the “new normal,” institutionalized and irreversible.

18. Opposition is silenced in the normalization phase through censorship, marginalization, or elimination. 19. The process relies on "useful idiots": intellectuals, elites, activists, and well-intentioned Western leaders who, unwittingly*, are driving social suicide.

20. If the breakdown succeeds, not even the revelation of truth can reverse it, since the population rejects facts that contradict its reprogrammed worldview

Bezmenov's most important ideas:

1. Ideological decay is a long-term process, lasting between 15 and 60 years, aimed at changing the perception of reality in a target nation without resorting to military force.

2. Only about 15% of KGB activities focused on traditional espionage; the majority were dedicated to psychological warfare and ideological manipulation.

3. The goal is to demoralize a society by undermining its moral, educational, and cultural foundations, so that people can no longer recognize threats or defend themselves against them.

4. Demoralization lasts between 15 and 20 years, the time needed to educate a generation with subversive ideas.

5. Educational systems at all levels are the primary targets: schools become indoctrination centers that prioritize relativism over facts and critical thinking. 6. Media infiltration creates confusion by reinforcing divisive narratives and discrediting objective truth.