The Czech Dream

Zizek made a rare appearance at a political rally in the Prague this winter, speaking out about the US proposal to build a missile defense shield in Europe. I hadn't realized this issue was so divisive in Europe; the criticism that it doesn't serve in much of Europe's interest is not one I have seen come up in the news here. The plan is to create a radar in Czechoslovakia in conjunction with several in Poland, but the plan is still unpopular with the Russian administration, who are stonewalling the plan.  The objection the Russians have it basically that our surveillance units in Czechoslovakia could be used to spy on Russian communications. 

I'm surprised Zizek showed up to do this thing, he apparently does not make many political appearances since his failed Presidential campaign in Slovenia in 1990.  He doesn't seem to be siding with the Russians or the U.S., and when he refers to the "enemies," he seems to be referring to the totalitarian/Stalinist agendas in both Russian and American admins.      
The residue on Youtube doesn't seem to represent the complete speech, just the end perhaps.Following is my transcript, or at least what I could hear:




I'm speaking the language of the enemy, but at least the enemy will have to understand us.
Old wisdom says, if you are caught in another person's dream, you are wrecked. Is this not the fate of us, in middle Europe, for centuries? Remember the start of the Austrian dream, The German dream, the Soviet dream, each worse than the others, the last one even claiming that it is really our dream, that they are realizing our own dream. Unfortunately, after the fall of communism the same story is going on. In the enthusiasm of 1989, we thought we finally realized our own dream. The morning after, when we woke up, sober, we realized that we were yet again dreaming another person's dream. The freedom we got is more and more the freedom to protect, the freedom to engage in a cruel struggle for success. Now, they want to protect this dream of theirs, by covering us with their protective umbrella of radars.

What about the U.S. protection? The United states went to Iraq to protect iraq from religious fundamentalism, and the result is that Iraq is, now more than ever, dominated by religious fundamentalism, that secular, educated classes are leaving iraq en masse. This is what you get from american protection. Recall the old Soviet joke on Radio Erevan. Did Radinovich really win a new car in the state lottery? In principle, yes he did. Only it was not a car, it was a bicycle; it was not new, it was used, and it was not won, it was stolen from him. Are we not exactly in the same situation? Will the Czech republic really get the U.S. military protection? In principle, yes, it will. Only, it is not a protection of our territory, but of the U.S. territoty. It doesn't protect us, but only it detects the threat, and this detection will only increase the danger for the Czech Republic.