Tag: Aleksandr Dugin

Here are a few more sources if you'd like to read about Aleksandr Dugin's influence on Russian policies. “The weakness of Russian nationalists,” she emphasized, “stems from their inability to clearly situate Russian frontiers. Euras[ianism] brings an ideological foundation for post-Soviet imperialism.”2 There has probably not been another book published in Russia during the post-communist period which has exerted an influence on Russian military, police, and statist foreign policy elites comparable to that of Aleksandr Dugin’s 1997 neo-fascist treatise, Foundations of Geopolitics.3 The impact of this intended “Eurasianist” textbook on key elements among Russian elites testifies to the worrisome rise of fascist ideas and sentiments during the late Yeltsin and the Putin periods. ...In a similar vein, the investigative weekly, Versiya, observed in late May of 2001: “Contacts between Pavlovskii and ‘Eurasia’ actually do occur, but most likely on the level of personal consultations. Aleksandr Dugin and the head of Kremlin politico-technology enjoy good, friendly relations.” Under Vladimir Putin, the newspaper continued, Dugin had become “one of the drafters of the concept of national security.” It was noted that Dmitrii Ryurikov, a leading advisor to President Yeltsin on foreign affairs, and the then Russian ambassador to Uzbekistan, had agreed to become a member of “Eurasia’s” Central Council. Dugin’s new organization, Versiya went on, was also engaged in “the preparing of analytical reports on foreign affairs for the Presidential Administration…” As for the financial support of “Eurasia,” the newspaper wrote: “The financial support of the movement comes through regional organizations of the special services. Moreover, not only finances are provided but also ‘necessary’ connections…”36 In his address to the founding congress of “Eurasia,” Dugin first of all expressed his gratitude to “the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation,” for its assistance, before proceeding also to thank the Moscow Patriarchate, the Central Spiritual Administration for the Muslims of Russia, and other organizations.37 On May 31, 2001, the Russian Ministry of Justice officially registered the “Eurasia” movement, which was reported to have branches in fifty regions of Russia.38 In late June of 2001, “Eurasia” hosted an ambitious conference, provocatively titled “Islamic Threat or a Threat to Islam?” held at the Presidential Hotel in Moscow. The titular co-chairmen of the conference were Seleznev (who did not attend) and Sheikh Talgat Tadzhuddin, the officially recognized head of the Muslims of Russia and the CIS states.39 By the summer of 2001, Aleksandr Dugin, a neo-fascist ideologue, had managed to approach the center of power in Moscow, having formed close ties with elements in the Presidential Administration, the secret services, the Russian military, and the leadership of the State Duma. In an interview with the Krasnoyarsk division of Ekho Moskvy Radio on July 25, 2001, Dugin, commenting on Putin’s role at the recent G-8 meetings in Genoa, affirmed, “It is my impression that in the international sphere Putin is splendidly realizing the Eurasian political model.”40 Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist incidents in New York City and Washington, DC, Dugin’s opinion was solicited by a major Russian newspaper, along with the views of the secretary of the Russian Security Council, the speaker of the Federation Council and various Duma faction leaders, which testifies to the perceived influence which Dugin was seen to wield at that time in Russia.41 ...Dugin’s militant views on geopolitics, as expressed in his 1997 “textbook,” will presumably strike Western readers as both crude and mad, representing but a slight improvement over, say, the ravings of Duma deputy speaker Vladimir Zhirinovskii. "There has probably not been another book published in Russia during the post-communist period which has exerted a comparable influence on Russian military, police, and statist foreign policy elites,” writes historian John Dunlop, a Hoover Institution specialist on the Russian right.