Russia And The Western Far Right

The growing influence of Russia on the Western far right has been much discussed in the media recently. This book is the first detailed inquiry into what has been a neglected but critically important trend: the growing links between Russian actors and Western far right activists, publicists, ideologues, and politicians. The author uses a range of sources including interviews, video footage, leaked communications, official statements and press coverage in order to discuss both historical and contemporary Russia in terms of its relationship with the Western far right. Initial contacts between Russian political actors and Western far right activists were established in the early 1990s, but these contacts were low profile. As Moscow has become more anti-Western, these contacts have become more intense and have operated at a higher level. The book shows that the Russian establishment was first interested in using the Western far right to legitimise Moscow’s politics and actions both domestically and internationally, but more recently Moscow has begun to support particular far right political forces to gain leverage on European politics and undermine the liberal-democratic consensus in the West. Contributing to ongoing scholarly debates about Russia’s role in the world, its strategies aimed at securing legitimation of Putin’s regime both internationally and domestically, modern information warfare and propaganda, far right politics and activism in the West, this book draws on theories and methods from history, political science, area studies, and media studies and will be of interest to students, scholars, activists and practitioners in these areas.

The 2014 Ukrainian crisis has highlighted the pro-Russia stances of some European countries, such as Hungary and Greece, and of some European parties, mostly on the far-right of the political spectrum. They see themselves as victims of the EU “technocracy” and liberal moral values, and look for new allies to denounce the current “mainstream” and its austerity measures. These groups found new and unexpected allies in Russia. As seen from the Kremlin, those who denounce Brussels and its submission to U.S. interests are potential allies of a newly re-assertive Russia that sees itself as the torchbearer of conservative values. Predating the Kremlin’s networks, the European connections of Alexander Dugin, the fascist geopolitician and proponent of neo-Eurasianism, paved the way for a new pan-European illiberal ideology based on an updated reinterpretation of fascism. Although Dugin and the European far-right belong to the same ideological world and can be seen as two sides of the same coin, the alliance between Putin’s regime and the European far-right is more a marriage of convenience than one of true love. This unique book examines the European far-right’s connections with Russia and untangles this puzzle by tracing the ideological origins and individual paths that have materialized in this permanent dialogue between Russia and Europe.

uropean far-right parties have developed close relationships with Russia, based both on ideology and strategy. These parties see in President Vladimir Putin the model of a strong, conservative leader who defends traditional values and opposes the decadent West. Since most far-right parties are at the same time anti-American and against European integration, they also see a close relationship with Russia as a necessary foothold in order to achieve the gradual disassociation of their countries from Euro-Atlantic institutions. The Kremlin views these parties as possibly being useful to expand Russia’s geopolitical influence. This unholy alliance should be emphasised and condemned more often in Europe.

In Is Russia Fascist?, Marlene Laruelle argues that the charge of "fascism" has become a strategic narrative of the current world order. Vladimir Putin's regime has increasingly been accused of embracing fascism, supposedly evidenced by Russia's annexation of Crimea, its historical revisionism, attacks on liberal democratic values, and its support for far-right movements in Europe. But at the same time Russia has branded itself as the world's preeminent antifascist power because of its sacrifices during the Second World War while it has also emphasized how opponents to the Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe collaborated with Nazi Germany. Laruelle closely analyzes accusations of fascism toward Russia, soberly assessing both their origins and their accuracy. By labeling ideological opponents as fascist, regardless of their actual values or actions, geopolitical rivals are able to frame their own vision of the world and claim the moral high ground. Through a detailed examination of the Russian domestic scene and the Kremlin's foreign policy rationales, Laruelle disentangles the foundation for, meaning, and validity of accusations of fascism in and around Russia. Is Russia Fascist? shows that the efforts to label opponents as fascist is ultimately an attempt to determine the role of Russia in Europe's future.

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Russia, grade: A, Webster University, language: English, abstract: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation has witnessed a marked and progressive increase of extreme right-wing ideology, which has led to violent interethnic clashes, terrorism, outspoken government officials calling for neo-imperialist expansion, and as some would argue – war. Along with Russia’s relative prosperity and stability following Vladimir Putin’s rise to power at the turn of the century, Putin has gained strong widespread support and will surely be re-elected in March 2012. However, the Russian government under Putin has indirectly allowed for the evolution of an extreme right-wing movement through its policies and lack of action toward preventing attacks. Nevertheless, it is generally accepted that Putin is not responsible for creating or orchestrating a movement that has in many cases been responsible for lethal violence. It was in 2004 that the Russian Federation experienced the most dramatic increase in militant hate crimes on non-Russian ethnic groups with 215 people injured and 49 killed. Following this, 414 were injured and 47 killed in 2005, and 485 injured and 54 killed in 2006 (Varga, 2008). These findings demonstrate the rapid growth in support of such hate groups, or at least the frequency of attacks and demonstrations. This suggests that the continued rise of xenophobic hate crimes is not likely to lose momentum. The factors that have played a part in developing the spread of far right ideology include political parties, radical individuals within government, and nationalist groups and associations.

Modern political systems have been the products of liberal democracy, Marxism, or fascism. Dugin asserts a fourth ideology is needed to sift through the debris of the first three to look for elements that might be useful, but that remains innovative and unique in itself.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky's second Bolshevik revolution in October 1993 shocked the world with the strength of the Russian Red-Brown alliance and the danger it poses to Russian democracy and world peace. In this book, Walter Laqueur, an expert on Russian and European history, provides a portrait of the leaders and tenets of the Russian extreme right and their attempts to win over public opinion at a time of grave domestic trouble. It is clear that Russia's long-term fate is far from settled, and this book introduces readers to a movement that may have a fateful impact on Russia in the years to come.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION The book is a Russian textbook on geopolitics. It systematically and detailed the basics of geopolitics as a science, its theory, history. Covering a wide range of geopolitical schools and beliefs and actual problems. The first time a Russian geopolitical doctrine. An indispensable guide for all those who make decisions in the most important spheres of Russian political life - for politicians, entrepreneurs, economists, bankers, diplomats, analysts, political scientists, and so on. D.