2014 turned out to be a truly turning point for the entire system of international relations. The conflict in southeastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea to Russia set off a chain of events that resulted in a new Cold War. Its parties, as before, are Russia and the West - primarily the United States. But why did this happen? Why did the Americans react so painfully to the actions of Russia, and not, for example, China or Islamic fundamentalists? According to Vladimir Solovyov, the reason is the religious nature of this conflict, and democracy in its American reading plays the role of a new religion today. When Russia for the first time after Yeltsin started talking about its independent path, about the need for ideology, about the “Russian world,” a break in the pattern occurred in the minds of the new missionaries. American doctrine does not imply the presence of another active player in the market of ideologies. And when he suddenly appears, a new crusade begins.