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Dugin - Alexander Dugin and New European Radical Right
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Aleksandr Dugin:
A Russian Version of the European Radical Right? by Marlene Laruelle
? ? ? OCCASIONAL PAPER #294 KENNAN INSTITUTE
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The Kennan Institute is a division of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Through its programs of residential scholarships, meetings, and publications, the Institute encourages scholarship on the successor states to the Soviet Union, embracing a broad range of fields in the social sciences and humanities. The Kennan Institute is supported by contributions from foundations, corporations, individuals, and the United States Government.
Kennan Institute Occasional Papers
The Kennan Institute makes Occasional Papers available to all those interested. Occasional Papers are submitted by Kennan Institute scholars and visiting speakers. Copies of Occasional Papers and a list of papers currently available can be obtained free of charge by contacting:
Occasional Papers Kennan Institute
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D. C. 20004-3027 (202) 691-4100
Occasional Papers published since 1999 are available on the Institute's web site, www. wilsoncenter. org/kennan
This Occasional Paper has been produced with the support of the Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union of the U. S. Department of State (fund- ed by the Soviet and East European Research and Training Act of 1983, or Title VIII). The Kennan Institute is most grateful for this support.
The views expressed in Kennan Institute Occasional Papers are those of the authors.
? ? WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS
Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair David A. Metzner, Vice Chair.
Public Members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States; Bruce Cole, Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Margaret Spellings, Secretary, U. S. Department of Education; Condoleezza Rice, Secretary, U. S. Department of State; Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Designated Appointee of the President from within the Federal Government: Tamala L. Longaberger.
Private Citizen Members: Carol Cartwright, Robin Cook, Donald E. Garcia, Bruce S. Gelb, Sander Gerber, Charles L. Glazer, Ignacio E. Sanchez
ABOUT THE CENTER
The Center is the living memorial of the United States of America to the nation's twenty-eighth pres- ident, Woodrow Wilson. Congress established the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1968 as an international institute for advanced study, "symbolizing and strengthening the fruitful relationship between the world of learning and the world of public affairs. " The Center opened in 1970 under its own board of trustees.
In all its activities the Woodrow Wilson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, sup- ported financially by annual appropriations from Congress, and by the contributions of founda- tions, corporations, and individuals. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that pro- vide financial support to the Center.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Aleksandr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
Marlene Laruelle
? ? OCCASIONAL PAPER #294
Aleksadr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
In studying contemporary Russian Eurasianism--both as a doctrine and as a political movement--one constantly comes across Aleksandr Dugin. One of the main rea- sons that he is relevant to any such study is the quasi-monopoly he exercises over a certain part of the current Russian ideological spectrum. This spectrum includes a plethora of right-wing groupuscules that produce an enormous number of books and an impressive quantity of low-cir- culation newspapers, but are not readily distin- guishable from each other and display little the- oretical consistency or sophistication. Dugin is the only major theoretician among this Russian radical right. He is simultaneously on the fringe and at the center of the Russian nationalist phe- nomenon. He provides theoretical inspiration to many currents and disseminates precepts that can be recycled at different levels. Above all he is striving to cover every niche on the current ide- ological marketplace.
Occasional Papers are submitted by Kennan Institute scholars and visiting speakers. Copies of Occasional Papers and a list of papers currently available can be obtained free of charge by contacting:
Occasional Papers Kennan Institute
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D. C. 20004-3027 (202) 691-4100
Occasional Papers published since 1999 are available on the Institute's web site, www. wilsoncenter. org/kennan
This Occasional Paper has been produced with the support of the Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union of the U. S. Department of State (fund- ed by the Soviet and East European Research and Training Act of 1983, or Title VIII). The Kennan Institute is most grateful for this support.
The views expressed in Kennan Institute Occasional Papers are those of the authors.
? ? WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS
Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair David A. Metzner, Vice Chair.
Public Members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States; Bruce Cole, Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Margaret Spellings, Secretary, U. S. Department of Education; Condoleezza Rice, Secretary, U. S. Department of State; Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Designated Appointee of the President from within the Federal Government: Tamala L. Longaberger.
Private Citizen Members: Carol Cartwright, Robin Cook, Donald E. Garcia, Bruce S. Gelb, Sander Gerber, Charles L. Glazer, Ignacio E. Sanchez
ABOUT THE CENTER
The Center is the living memorial of the United States of America to the nation's twenty-eighth pres- ident, Woodrow Wilson. Congress established the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1968 as an international institute for advanced study, "symbolizing and strengthening the fruitful relationship between the world of learning and the world of public affairs. " The Center opened in 1970 under its own board of trustees.
In all its activities the Woodrow Wilson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, sup- ported financially by annual appropriations from Congress, and by the contributions of founda- tions, corporations, and individuals. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that pro- vide financial support to the Center.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Aleksandr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
Marlene Laruelle
? ? OCCASIONAL PAPER #294
Aleksadr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
In studying contemporary Russian Eurasianism--both as a doctrine and as a political movement--one constantly comes across Aleksandr Dugin. One of the main rea- sons that he is relevant to any such study is the quasi-monopoly he exercises over a certain part of the current Russian ideological spectrum. This spectrum includes a plethora of right-wing groupuscules that produce an enormous number of books and an impressive quantity of low-cir- culation newspapers, but are not readily distin- guishable from each other and display little the- oretical consistency or sophistication. Dugin is the only major theoretician among this Russian radical right. He is simultaneously on the fringe and at the center of the Russian nationalist phe- nomenon. He provides theoretical inspiration to many currents and disseminates precepts that can be recycled at different levels. Above all he is striving to cover every niche on the current ide- ological marketplace. He proceeds from the assumption that Russian society and Russia's political establishment are in search of a new ide- ology: he therefore owes it to himself to exercise his influence over all the ideological options and their possible formulations.
Beyond the doctrinal qualities that make him stand out among the spectrum of Russian nationalism, Dugin is noteworthy for his fren- zied and prolific output of publications begin- ning in the early 1990s. He has published over a dozen books, either original texts or thematical- ly rearranged articles initially printed in various journals or newspapers. He has also edited sev- eral journals: Elementy (9 issues between 1992 and 1998), Milyi Angel (4 issues between 1991 and 1999), Evraziiskoe vtorzhenie (published as an irregular supplement to the weekly Zavtra, with six special issues in 2000), and Evraziiskoe obozrenie (11 issues from 2001 to 2004). 1 In 1997, he wrote and presented a weekly one-
hour radio broadcast, Finis Mundi, which was prohibited after he commented favorably on the
2 early 20th-century terrorist Boris Savinkov.
Dugin also regularly publishes articles in numer- ous dailies and appears on several television pro- grams. In 1998, he took part in the creation of the "New University," a small institution that provides Traditionalist and occultist teachings to a select few, where he lectures alongside noted literary figures such as Yevgeny Golovin and Iurii Mamleev. Since 2005, he has been appear- ing on the new Orthodox TV channel Spas cre- ated by Ivan Demidov, where he anchors a weekly broadcast on geopolitics called Landmarks [Vekhi]. 3 He also regularly takes part in round table discussions on Russian television and occupies a major place in the Russian nationalist Web. 4
Several intellectual tendencies manifest themselves in his thought: a political theory inspired by Traditionalism,5 Orthodox religious philosophy,6 Aryanist and occultist theories,7 and geopolitical and Eurasianist conceptions. 8 One might expect this ideological diversity to reflect a lengthy evolution in Dugin's intellec- tual life. Quite to the contrary, however, all these topics did not emerge in succession but have co-existed in Dugin's writings since the beginning of the 1990s. While Eurasianism and geopolitics are Dugin's most classic and best- known "business cards" for public opinion and the political authorities, his philosophical, reli- gious and political doctrines are much more complex and deserve careful consideration. The diversity of his work is little known, and his ideas are therefore often characterized in a rash and incomplete way. We therefore ought to look for his intellectual lineage and try to understand his striving to combine diverse ide- ological sources. Dugin is one of the few thinkers to consider that the doctrinal stock of
? ? Marlene Laruelle is an Associate Scholar at the French Center for Russian, Caucasian, and East European Studies in Paris. In 2005-2006 she was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
This paper was translated by Mischa Gabowitsch.
ALEKSANDR DUGIN: A RUSSIAN VERSION OF THE EUROPEAN RADICAL RIGHT? 1
Russian nationalism has depreciated and must be revitalized with the help of Western input. Dugin is thus "anchoring" Russian nationalism in more global theories and acting as a mediator of Western thought. It is this aspect of Dugin that will be the focus of this paper.
DUGIN'S SOCIAL TRAJECTORY
AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
It is particularly important to understand Aleksandr Dugin's complex place within Neo- Eurasianism, since, to a certain extent, his posi- tion is representative of certain more general phenomena and thus helps trace the evolution of Russian nationalist ideas over the past twenty years or so. Between 1985 and 1990, Dugin was clearly in favor of a "right-wing" Neo- Eurasianism, and close to conservative or even monarchist circles. In 1988, he joined the ultra- nationalist and anti-Semitic orgnization Pamiat', but did not feel intellectually at home there, since his ideas for a doctrinal renewal of the right were out of place in this fundamentally conservative organization. He therefore left Pamiat' the following year, condemning its nos- talgic monarchism and vulgar anti-Semitism. In 1990-1, he founded several institutions of his own: the Arctogaia Association, as well as a pub- lishing house of the same name, and the Center for Meta-Strategic Studies. During this period, Dugin drew closer to Gennadii Ziuganov's Communist Party, and became one of the most prolific contributors to the prominent patriotic newspaper Den' (later renamed Zavtra), which was at that time at the height of its influence. His articles published in this newspaper contributed to the dissemination of Eurasianist theories in Russian nationalist circles. At first he was sup- ported by the nationalist thinker Aleksandr Prokhanov, who thought that only Eurasianism could unify the patriots, who were still divided into "Whites" and "Reds," but Prokhanov quickly turned away and condemned Eurasianism for being too Turko-centric.
From 1993-4, Dugin moved away from the Communist spectrum and became the ideologist for the new National Bolshevik Party (NBP). Born of a convergence between the old Soviet counter-culture and patriotic groups, the NBP successfully established its ideology among the young. Dugin's Arctogaia then served as a think tank for the political activities of the NBP's
leader, Eduard Limonov. The two men shared a desire to develop close ties with the counter-cul- tural sphere, in particular with nationalistically- minded rock and punk musicians, such as Yegor Letov, Sergei Troitskii, Roman Neumoev or Sergei Kurekhin. 9 In 1995, Dugin even ran in the Duma elections under the banner of the NBP in a suburban constituency near Saint-Petersburg, but received less than 1 percent of the vote. 10 However, this electoral failure did not harm him, as he was simultaneously busy writing numerous philosophical and esoteric works to develop what he considered to be the Neo-Eurasianist "ortho- doxy. " Limonov would thereafter describe Dugin as "the 'Cyril and Methodius' of fascism, since he brought Faith and knowledge about it to our country from the West. "11
Dugin left the National Bolshevik Party in 1998 following numerous disagreements with Limonov, seeking instead to enter more influen- tial structures. He hoped to become a "counsel to the prince" and presented himself as a one- man think tank for the authorities. He succeed- ed in establishing himself as an advisor to the Duma's spokesman, the Communist Gennady Seleznev, and, in 1999, he became chairman of the geopolitical section of the Duma's Advisory Council on National Security, dominated by the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, led by Vladimir Zhirinovskii. At the time, Dugin appeared to exert a certain influ- ence on Zhirinovskii, as well as on Aleksandr Rutskoi of the Social Democratic Party and Gennady Ziuganov of the Communist Party12. The latter, for example, borrowed from Dugin the idea that Russian nationalism does not con- flict with the expression of minority national sentiments. Indeed, Ziuganov presented the CPRF as the main defender of Tatar nationalism and Kalmyk Buddhism. His book Russia after the Year 2000: A Geopolitical Vision for a New State was directly inspired by Dugin's ideas on the dis- tinctiveness of Russian geopolitical "science" and his idea that Russia's renewal provides the only guarantee of world stability. Dugin also reg- ularly publishes on Russian official web sites, such as www. strana. ru, where he expresses his ideas on the opposition between the re-emerg- ing Eurasian empire and the Atlanticist model.
Dugin's entry into parliamentary structures was largely made possible by the publication (in 1997) of the first version of his most influential
2 KENNAN INSTITUTE OCCASIONAL PAPER #294
work, The Foundations of Geopolitics: Russia's Geopolitical Future. 13 It is considered to be a major study of geopolitics, and is often present- ed as the founding work of the contemporary Russian school of geopolitics. By 2000, the work had already been re-issued four times, and had become a major political pamphlet, enjoy- ing a large readership in academic and political circles. Indeed, Dugin has always hoped to influence promising young intellectuals as well as important political and military circles. He has stated that his Center for Geopolitical Expertise could quickly become an "analytical instrument helping to develop the national idea"14 for the executive and legislative powers.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, he has been especially keen on getting in touch with acting military officers: coming from a military family, he regularly asserts that only the army and the secret services have a real sense of patri- otism. Thus, in 1992, the first issue of Elementy carried texts by three generals who were then heads of department at the Academy of the General Staff. 15 In addition, The Foundations of Geopolitics seems to have been written with the support of General Igor' Rodionov, who was minister of defense in 1996-7. 16 Thanks to this book, Dugin has been invited to teach at the Academy of the General Staff as well as at the Institute for Strategic Research in Moscow. He offered them a certain vision of international politics colored by an "isolationism that only serves to disguise a project of expansion and conquest. "17 Following this best-seller, Dugin considerably expanded his presence in the main Russian media; to some, he became a respectable personality of public life. The suc- cess of his geopolitics book, now used as a text- book by numerous institutions of higher educa- tion, as well as his lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and at the so-called New University, satisfies his desire to reach the polit- ical and intellectual elites.
Thus the years 1998-2000 saw the transfor- mation of Dugin's political leanings into a spe- cific current that employs multiple strategies of entryism, targeting both youth counter-culture and parliamentary structures. Dugin moved away from opposition parties such as the CPRF and the LDPR and closer to centrist groups, lending his support to the then prime minister, Yevgeny Primakov. In 2000, he briefly partici-
pated in the Rossiia movement led by the Communist Gennady Seleznev and wrote its manifesto, before leaving due to disagreements with its leadership. Putin's election as president in March 2000 caused an even stronger shift in Dugin's political attitudes, as he began to move closer to country's new strong man.
On 21 April 2001 he resolved to put his cards on the table and created a movement named Evraziia, of which he was elected presi- dent. During its founding convention, Evraziia--often described as a brainchild of presidential counsel Gleb Pavlovsky, who is close to Dugin--officially rallied to Putin and proposed to participate in the next elections as part of a governmental coalition. The move- ment's goal, according to Dugin's declarations, is to formulate the "national idea" that Russia needs: "our goal is not to achieve power, nor to fight for power, but to fight for influence on it. Those are different things. "18 On 30 May 2002, Evraziia was transformed into a political party that Dugin defines as "radically centrist," an ambiguous formulation that springs from his Traditionalist attitude. Dugin accepts the com- bination of "patriotism and liberalism" which he says Vladimir Putin is proposing, on the con- dition that the liberal element remains sub- servient to state interests and to the imperatives of national security. As he affirms, "our patriot- ism is not only emotional but also scientific, based on geopolitics and its methods,"19 a classic claim of Neo-Eurasianists. According to its own data, the new party has 59 regional branches and more than 10,000 members. Its creation was publicly welcomed by Aleksandr Voloshin, then the head of the presidential administration, and Aleksandr Kosopkin, chief of the administra- tion's Internal Affairs Department.
Dugin also enlisted the support of another influential figure close to the president, Mikhail Leont'ev, the presenter of Odnako (broadcast by Pervyi kanal, the first channel of Russian state TV), who joined the party's Central Committee. Strengthened by his success after these public dis- plays of recognition, Dugin hoped to acquire influence within a promising new electoral for- mation, the Rodina bloc, and use it as a platform for a candidacy in the parliamentary elections in December 2003. This alliance, however, was tac- tically short-lived, and questionable in its ideo- logical import. Thus, Dugin never concealed his
ALEKSANDR DUGIN: A RUSSIAN VERSION OF THE EUROPEAN RADICAL RIGHT? 3
disdain for the monarchist nostalgia and the politicized orthodoxy embodied by Rodina lead- ers such as Dmitrii Rogozin and Natalia Narochnitskaia. Indeed, it seems that Sergei Glaz'ev20 was the one who was responsible for the rapprochement with Dugin. Although Glaz'ev can- not be considered a Neo-Eurasianist, he did par- ticipate in the founding convention of Evraziia in 2002. The two men share an interest in econom- ic policies leaning toward socialism, and Dugin acknowledged his sympathy for Glaz'ev's eco- nomic ideas (which he calls "healthy") even after the latter left Rodina in March 2004.
Dugin and Glaz'ev met as early as February 2003 in order to constitute a party they defined as "left-patriotic. " In July, Evraziia declared itself ready to support the creation of this electoral bloc. However, internal arguments over person- alities ensued: the bloc needed to choose three leaders who would be sure to become deputies if it passed, and would benefit most from the campaign's publicity. Dugin hoped to be chosen, but was hampered by his political marginality linked to his reputation as an extravagant theo- retician whose ideas are too complex to inform an electoral strategy. 21 At the end of September, the disappointed Dugin left the Rodina bloc, explaining at a press-conference that Rodina's nationalism was too radical for him--a statement that must draw a smile from those familiar with his work. This nationalist setting had not dis- turbed him until then. Nor did he move closer to Rodina when certain overly virulent national- ists such as V. I. Davidenko, leader of the small Spas party, were expelled from Rodina's list of candidates under pressure from the Kremlin.
Dugin's accusations against Rodina fall into two categories. He condemns the bloc for being tooclosetotheCPRFanditsoligarchy,andcrit- icizes its "irresponsible populism. " He also takes to task those he calls "right-wing chauvinists": Sergei Baburin and the Spas movement. 22 By contrast, Dugin insists on the conciliatory and multinational mission of his Evraziia party, which "represents not only the interests of the Russians, but also those of the small peoples and the tradi- tional confessions. "23 Dugin has also accused some Rodina members of racism and anti- Semitism, stressing that the party includes former members of Russian National Unity24 as well as Andrei Savel'ev, who translated Mein Kampf into Russian. The first set of criticisms is justified by
Dugin's own convictions: he has never hidden his disdain for the present Communist Party, does not appreciate the emotional attitude of the Orthodox in matters of international politics, rejects all Tsarist nostalgia, has always denounced the racialism of Barkashov's theories, and con- demns electoral populism. The second set of crit- icisms seems more opportunistic: a close reading of Dugin's works clearly reveals his fascination with the National Socialist experience and his ambiguous anti-Semitism. Today, Dugin is attempting to play down these aspects of his thought in order to present himself as a "politi- cally correct" thinker waiting to be recognized by the Putin regime.
In return, instances of Dugin borrowing ide- ologically from Rodina seem rather rare. His Traditionalist, National Bolshevik and esoteric ideas, which constitute an important part of his thinking, are not appreciated by Rodina and have not exercised any influence on the bloc's con- ceptions. Indeed, Rodina is more conservative than revolutionary, and cannot take up Dugin's provocative suggestions, which often aim to break the social order. The strictly Neo- Eurasianist aspect of Dugin's ideas--his best- known "trademark" in Russian society today-- is in tune with some of Rodina's geopolitical conceptions, but this concurrence is actually founded on the anti-Westernism that is common to both, not on a shared vision of Russia as a Eurasian power. For this reason, despite their attempted alliance, Rodina may not be said to have adopted elements of Neo-Eurasianist thought in the strict sense of the term. Nevertheless, these difficult relations did not stop Dugin from being delighted with the results of the December 2003 elections, which carried four nationalist parties (the presidential party United Russia, the CPRF, the LDPR, and Rodina) into the Duma. Dugin has connections with every one of them, and some members of each of these parties openly acknowledge having been inspired by his theories.
A Russian Version of the European Radical Right? by Marlene Laruelle
? ? ? OCCASIONAL PAPER #294 KENNAN INSTITUTE
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The Kennan Institute is a division of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Through its programs of residential scholarships, meetings, and publications, the Institute encourages scholarship on the successor states to the Soviet Union, embracing a broad range of fields in the social sciences and humanities. The Kennan Institute is supported by contributions from foundations, corporations, individuals, and the United States Government.
Kennan Institute Occasional Papers
The Kennan Institute makes Occasional Papers available to all those interested. Occasional Papers are submitted by Kennan Institute scholars and visiting speakers. Copies of Occasional Papers and a list of papers currently available can be obtained free of charge by contacting:
Occasional Papers Kennan Institute
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D. C. 20004-3027 (202) 691-4100
Occasional Papers published since 1999 are available on the Institute's web site, www. wilsoncenter. org/kennan
This Occasional Paper has been produced with the support of the Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union of the U. S. Department of State (fund- ed by the Soviet and East European Research and Training Act of 1983, or Title VIII). The Kennan Institute is most grateful for this support.
The views expressed in Kennan Institute Occasional Papers are those of the authors.
? ? WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS
Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair David A. Metzner, Vice Chair.
Public Members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States; Bruce Cole, Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Margaret Spellings, Secretary, U. S. Department of Education; Condoleezza Rice, Secretary, U. S. Department of State; Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Designated Appointee of the President from within the Federal Government: Tamala L. Longaberger.
Private Citizen Members: Carol Cartwright, Robin Cook, Donald E. Garcia, Bruce S. Gelb, Sander Gerber, Charles L. Glazer, Ignacio E. Sanchez
ABOUT THE CENTER
The Center is the living memorial of the United States of America to the nation's twenty-eighth pres- ident, Woodrow Wilson. Congress established the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1968 as an international institute for advanced study, "symbolizing and strengthening the fruitful relationship between the world of learning and the world of public affairs. " The Center opened in 1970 under its own board of trustees.
In all its activities the Woodrow Wilson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, sup- ported financially by annual appropriations from Congress, and by the contributions of founda- tions, corporations, and individuals. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that pro- vide financial support to the Center.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Aleksandr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
Marlene Laruelle
? ? OCCASIONAL PAPER #294
Aleksadr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
In studying contemporary Russian Eurasianism--both as a doctrine and as a political movement--one constantly comes across Aleksandr Dugin. One of the main rea- sons that he is relevant to any such study is the quasi-monopoly he exercises over a certain part of the current Russian ideological spectrum. This spectrum includes a plethora of right-wing groupuscules that produce an enormous number of books and an impressive quantity of low-cir- culation newspapers, but are not readily distin- guishable from each other and display little the- oretical consistency or sophistication. Dugin is the only major theoretician among this Russian radical right. He is simultaneously on the fringe and at the center of the Russian nationalist phe- nomenon. He provides theoretical inspiration to many currents and disseminates precepts that can be recycled at different levels. Above all he is striving to cover every niche on the current ide- ological marketplace.
Occasional Papers are submitted by Kennan Institute scholars and visiting speakers. Copies of Occasional Papers and a list of papers currently available can be obtained free of charge by contacting:
Occasional Papers Kennan Institute
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D. C. 20004-3027 (202) 691-4100
Occasional Papers published since 1999 are available on the Institute's web site, www. wilsoncenter. org/kennan
This Occasional Paper has been produced with the support of the Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union of the U. S. Department of State (fund- ed by the Soviet and East European Research and Training Act of 1983, or Title VIII). The Kennan Institute is most grateful for this support.
The views expressed in Kennan Institute Occasional Papers are those of the authors.
? ? WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS
Lee H. Hamilton, President and Director
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joseph B. Gildenhorn, Chair David A. Metzner, Vice Chair.
Public Members: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress; Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States; Bruce Cole, Chair, National Endowment for the Humanities; Margaret Spellings, Secretary, U. S. Department of Education; Condoleezza Rice, Secretary, U. S. Department of State; Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution; Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Designated Appointee of the President from within the Federal Government: Tamala L. Longaberger.
Private Citizen Members: Carol Cartwright, Robin Cook, Donald E. Garcia, Bruce S. Gelb, Sander Gerber, Charles L. Glazer, Ignacio E. Sanchez
ABOUT THE CENTER
The Center is the living memorial of the United States of America to the nation's twenty-eighth pres- ident, Woodrow Wilson. Congress established the Woodrow Wilson Center in 1968 as an international institute for advanced study, "symbolizing and strengthening the fruitful relationship between the world of learning and the world of public affairs. " The Center opened in 1970 under its own board of trustees.
In all its activities the Woodrow Wilson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, sup- ported financially by annual appropriations from Congress, and by the contributions of founda- tions, corporations, and individuals. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publications and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advisory groups, or any individuals or organizations that pro- vide financial support to the Center.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Aleksandr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
Marlene Laruelle
? ? OCCASIONAL PAPER #294
Aleksadr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?
In studying contemporary Russian Eurasianism--both as a doctrine and as a political movement--one constantly comes across Aleksandr Dugin. One of the main rea- sons that he is relevant to any such study is the quasi-monopoly he exercises over a certain part of the current Russian ideological spectrum. This spectrum includes a plethora of right-wing groupuscules that produce an enormous number of books and an impressive quantity of low-cir- culation newspapers, but are not readily distin- guishable from each other and display little the- oretical consistency or sophistication. Dugin is the only major theoretician among this Russian radical right. He is simultaneously on the fringe and at the center of the Russian nationalist phe- nomenon. He provides theoretical inspiration to many currents and disseminates precepts that can be recycled at different levels. Above all he is striving to cover every niche on the current ide- ological marketplace. He proceeds from the assumption that Russian society and Russia's political establishment are in search of a new ide- ology: he therefore owes it to himself to exercise his influence over all the ideological options and their possible formulations.
Beyond the doctrinal qualities that make him stand out among the spectrum of Russian nationalism, Dugin is noteworthy for his fren- zied and prolific output of publications begin- ning in the early 1990s. He has published over a dozen books, either original texts or thematical- ly rearranged articles initially printed in various journals or newspapers. He has also edited sev- eral journals: Elementy (9 issues between 1992 and 1998), Milyi Angel (4 issues between 1991 and 1999), Evraziiskoe vtorzhenie (published as an irregular supplement to the weekly Zavtra, with six special issues in 2000), and Evraziiskoe obozrenie (11 issues from 2001 to 2004). 1 In 1997, he wrote and presented a weekly one-
hour radio broadcast, Finis Mundi, which was prohibited after he commented favorably on the
2 early 20th-century terrorist Boris Savinkov.
Dugin also regularly publishes articles in numer- ous dailies and appears on several television pro- grams. In 1998, he took part in the creation of the "New University," a small institution that provides Traditionalist and occultist teachings to a select few, where he lectures alongside noted literary figures such as Yevgeny Golovin and Iurii Mamleev. Since 2005, he has been appear- ing on the new Orthodox TV channel Spas cre- ated by Ivan Demidov, where he anchors a weekly broadcast on geopolitics called Landmarks [Vekhi]. 3 He also regularly takes part in round table discussions on Russian television and occupies a major place in the Russian nationalist Web. 4
Several intellectual tendencies manifest themselves in his thought: a political theory inspired by Traditionalism,5 Orthodox religious philosophy,6 Aryanist and occultist theories,7 and geopolitical and Eurasianist conceptions. 8 One might expect this ideological diversity to reflect a lengthy evolution in Dugin's intellec- tual life. Quite to the contrary, however, all these topics did not emerge in succession but have co-existed in Dugin's writings since the beginning of the 1990s. While Eurasianism and geopolitics are Dugin's most classic and best- known "business cards" for public opinion and the political authorities, his philosophical, reli- gious and political doctrines are much more complex and deserve careful consideration. The diversity of his work is little known, and his ideas are therefore often characterized in a rash and incomplete way. We therefore ought to look for his intellectual lineage and try to understand his striving to combine diverse ide- ological sources. Dugin is one of the few thinkers to consider that the doctrinal stock of
? ? Marlene Laruelle is an Associate Scholar at the French Center for Russian, Caucasian, and East European Studies in Paris. In 2005-2006 she was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
This paper was translated by Mischa Gabowitsch.
ALEKSANDR DUGIN: A RUSSIAN VERSION OF THE EUROPEAN RADICAL RIGHT? 1
Russian nationalism has depreciated and must be revitalized with the help of Western input. Dugin is thus "anchoring" Russian nationalism in more global theories and acting as a mediator of Western thought. It is this aspect of Dugin that will be the focus of this paper.
DUGIN'S SOCIAL TRAJECTORY
AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
It is particularly important to understand Aleksandr Dugin's complex place within Neo- Eurasianism, since, to a certain extent, his posi- tion is representative of certain more general phenomena and thus helps trace the evolution of Russian nationalist ideas over the past twenty years or so. Between 1985 and 1990, Dugin was clearly in favor of a "right-wing" Neo- Eurasianism, and close to conservative or even monarchist circles. In 1988, he joined the ultra- nationalist and anti-Semitic orgnization Pamiat', but did not feel intellectually at home there, since his ideas for a doctrinal renewal of the right were out of place in this fundamentally conservative organization. He therefore left Pamiat' the following year, condemning its nos- talgic monarchism and vulgar anti-Semitism. In 1990-1, he founded several institutions of his own: the Arctogaia Association, as well as a pub- lishing house of the same name, and the Center for Meta-Strategic Studies. During this period, Dugin drew closer to Gennadii Ziuganov's Communist Party, and became one of the most prolific contributors to the prominent patriotic newspaper Den' (later renamed Zavtra), which was at that time at the height of its influence. His articles published in this newspaper contributed to the dissemination of Eurasianist theories in Russian nationalist circles. At first he was sup- ported by the nationalist thinker Aleksandr Prokhanov, who thought that only Eurasianism could unify the patriots, who were still divided into "Whites" and "Reds," but Prokhanov quickly turned away and condemned Eurasianism for being too Turko-centric.
From 1993-4, Dugin moved away from the Communist spectrum and became the ideologist for the new National Bolshevik Party (NBP). Born of a convergence between the old Soviet counter-culture and patriotic groups, the NBP successfully established its ideology among the young. Dugin's Arctogaia then served as a think tank for the political activities of the NBP's
leader, Eduard Limonov. The two men shared a desire to develop close ties with the counter-cul- tural sphere, in particular with nationalistically- minded rock and punk musicians, such as Yegor Letov, Sergei Troitskii, Roman Neumoev or Sergei Kurekhin. 9 In 1995, Dugin even ran in the Duma elections under the banner of the NBP in a suburban constituency near Saint-Petersburg, but received less than 1 percent of the vote. 10 However, this electoral failure did not harm him, as he was simultaneously busy writing numerous philosophical and esoteric works to develop what he considered to be the Neo-Eurasianist "ortho- doxy. " Limonov would thereafter describe Dugin as "the 'Cyril and Methodius' of fascism, since he brought Faith and knowledge about it to our country from the West. "11
Dugin left the National Bolshevik Party in 1998 following numerous disagreements with Limonov, seeking instead to enter more influen- tial structures. He hoped to become a "counsel to the prince" and presented himself as a one- man think tank for the authorities. He succeed- ed in establishing himself as an advisor to the Duma's spokesman, the Communist Gennady Seleznev, and, in 1999, he became chairman of the geopolitical section of the Duma's Advisory Council on National Security, dominated by the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, led by Vladimir Zhirinovskii. At the time, Dugin appeared to exert a certain influ- ence on Zhirinovskii, as well as on Aleksandr Rutskoi of the Social Democratic Party and Gennady Ziuganov of the Communist Party12. The latter, for example, borrowed from Dugin the idea that Russian nationalism does not con- flict with the expression of minority national sentiments. Indeed, Ziuganov presented the CPRF as the main defender of Tatar nationalism and Kalmyk Buddhism. His book Russia after the Year 2000: A Geopolitical Vision for a New State was directly inspired by Dugin's ideas on the dis- tinctiveness of Russian geopolitical "science" and his idea that Russia's renewal provides the only guarantee of world stability. Dugin also reg- ularly publishes on Russian official web sites, such as www. strana. ru, where he expresses his ideas on the opposition between the re-emerg- ing Eurasian empire and the Atlanticist model.
Dugin's entry into parliamentary structures was largely made possible by the publication (in 1997) of the first version of his most influential
2 KENNAN INSTITUTE OCCASIONAL PAPER #294
work, The Foundations of Geopolitics: Russia's Geopolitical Future. 13 It is considered to be a major study of geopolitics, and is often present- ed as the founding work of the contemporary Russian school of geopolitics. By 2000, the work had already been re-issued four times, and had become a major political pamphlet, enjoy- ing a large readership in academic and political circles. Indeed, Dugin has always hoped to influence promising young intellectuals as well as important political and military circles. He has stated that his Center for Geopolitical Expertise could quickly become an "analytical instrument helping to develop the national idea"14 for the executive and legislative powers.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, he has been especially keen on getting in touch with acting military officers: coming from a military family, he regularly asserts that only the army and the secret services have a real sense of patri- otism. Thus, in 1992, the first issue of Elementy carried texts by three generals who were then heads of department at the Academy of the General Staff. 15 In addition, The Foundations of Geopolitics seems to have been written with the support of General Igor' Rodionov, who was minister of defense in 1996-7. 16 Thanks to this book, Dugin has been invited to teach at the Academy of the General Staff as well as at the Institute for Strategic Research in Moscow. He offered them a certain vision of international politics colored by an "isolationism that only serves to disguise a project of expansion and conquest. "17 Following this best-seller, Dugin considerably expanded his presence in the main Russian media; to some, he became a respectable personality of public life. The suc- cess of his geopolitics book, now used as a text- book by numerous institutions of higher educa- tion, as well as his lectures at the Academy of the General Staff and at the so-called New University, satisfies his desire to reach the polit- ical and intellectual elites.
Thus the years 1998-2000 saw the transfor- mation of Dugin's political leanings into a spe- cific current that employs multiple strategies of entryism, targeting both youth counter-culture and parliamentary structures. Dugin moved away from opposition parties such as the CPRF and the LDPR and closer to centrist groups, lending his support to the then prime minister, Yevgeny Primakov. In 2000, he briefly partici-
pated in the Rossiia movement led by the Communist Gennady Seleznev and wrote its manifesto, before leaving due to disagreements with its leadership. Putin's election as president in March 2000 caused an even stronger shift in Dugin's political attitudes, as he began to move closer to country's new strong man.
On 21 April 2001 he resolved to put his cards on the table and created a movement named Evraziia, of which he was elected presi- dent. During its founding convention, Evraziia--often described as a brainchild of presidential counsel Gleb Pavlovsky, who is close to Dugin--officially rallied to Putin and proposed to participate in the next elections as part of a governmental coalition. The move- ment's goal, according to Dugin's declarations, is to formulate the "national idea" that Russia needs: "our goal is not to achieve power, nor to fight for power, but to fight for influence on it. Those are different things. "18 On 30 May 2002, Evraziia was transformed into a political party that Dugin defines as "radically centrist," an ambiguous formulation that springs from his Traditionalist attitude. Dugin accepts the com- bination of "patriotism and liberalism" which he says Vladimir Putin is proposing, on the con- dition that the liberal element remains sub- servient to state interests and to the imperatives of national security. As he affirms, "our patriot- ism is not only emotional but also scientific, based on geopolitics and its methods,"19 a classic claim of Neo-Eurasianists. According to its own data, the new party has 59 regional branches and more than 10,000 members. Its creation was publicly welcomed by Aleksandr Voloshin, then the head of the presidential administration, and Aleksandr Kosopkin, chief of the administra- tion's Internal Affairs Department.
Dugin also enlisted the support of another influential figure close to the president, Mikhail Leont'ev, the presenter of Odnako (broadcast by Pervyi kanal, the first channel of Russian state TV), who joined the party's Central Committee. Strengthened by his success after these public dis- plays of recognition, Dugin hoped to acquire influence within a promising new electoral for- mation, the Rodina bloc, and use it as a platform for a candidacy in the parliamentary elections in December 2003. This alliance, however, was tac- tically short-lived, and questionable in its ideo- logical import. Thus, Dugin never concealed his
ALEKSANDR DUGIN: A RUSSIAN VERSION OF THE EUROPEAN RADICAL RIGHT? 3
disdain for the monarchist nostalgia and the politicized orthodoxy embodied by Rodina lead- ers such as Dmitrii Rogozin and Natalia Narochnitskaia. Indeed, it seems that Sergei Glaz'ev20 was the one who was responsible for the rapprochement with Dugin. Although Glaz'ev can- not be considered a Neo-Eurasianist, he did par- ticipate in the founding convention of Evraziia in 2002. The two men share an interest in econom- ic policies leaning toward socialism, and Dugin acknowledged his sympathy for Glaz'ev's eco- nomic ideas (which he calls "healthy") even after the latter left Rodina in March 2004.
Dugin and Glaz'ev met as early as February 2003 in order to constitute a party they defined as "left-patriotic. " In July, Evraziia declared itself ready to support the creation of this electoral bloc. However, internal arguments over person- alities ensued: the bloc needed to choose three leaders who would be sure to become deputies if it passed, and would benefit most from the campaign's publicity. Dugin hoped to be chosen, but was hampered by his political marginality linked to his reputation as an extravagant theo- retician whose ideas are too complex to inform an electoral strategy. 21 At the end of September, the disappointed Dugin left the Rodina bloc, explaining at a press-conference that Rodina's nationalism was too radical for him--a statement that must draw a smile from those familiar with his work. This nationalist setting had not dis- turbed him until then. Nor did he move closer to Rodina when certain overly virulent national- ists such as V. I. Davidenko, leader of the small Spas party, were expelled from Rodina's list of candidates under pressure from the Kremlin.
Dugin's accusations against Rodina fall into two categories. He condemns the bloc for being tooclosetotheCPRFanditsoligarchy,andcrit- icizes its "irresponsible populism. " He also takes to task those he calls "right-wing chauvinists": Sergei Baburin and the Spas movement. 22 By contrast, Dugin insists on the conciliatory and multinational mission of his Evraziia party, which "represents not only the interests of the Russians, but also those of the small peoples and the tradi- tional confessions. "23 Dugin has also accused some Rodina members of racism and anti- Semitism, stressing that the party includes former members of Russian National Unity24 as well as Andrei Savel'ev, who translated Mein Kampf into Russian. The first set of criticisms is justified by
Dugin's own convictions: he has never hidden his disdain for the present Communist Party, does not appreciate the emotional attitude of the Orthodox in matters of international politics, rejects all Tsarist nostalgia, has always denounced the racialism of Barkashov's theories, and con- demns electoral populism. The second set of crit- icisms seems more opportunistic: a close reading of Dugin's works clearly reveals his fascination with the National Socialist experience and his ambiguous anti-Semitism. Today, Dugin is attempting to play down these aspects of his thought in order to present himself as a "politi- cally correct" thinker waiting to be recognized by the Putin regime.
In return, instances of Dugin borrowing ide- ologically from Rodina seem rather rare. His Traditionalist, National Bolshevik and esoteric ideas, which constitute an important part of his thinking, are not appreciated by Rodina and have not exercised any influence on the bloc's con- ceptions. Indeed, Rodina is more conservative than revolutionary, and cannot take up Dugin's provocative suggestions, which often aim to break the social order. The strictly Neo- Eurasianist aspect of Dugin's ideas--his best- known "trademark" in Russian society today-- is in tune with some of Rodina's geopolitical conceptions, but this concurrence is actually founded on the anti-Westernism that is common to both, not on a shared vision of Russia as a Eurasian power. For this reason, despite their attempted alliance, Rodina may not be said to have adopted elements of Neo-Eurasianist thought in the strict sense of the term. Nevertheless, these difficult relations did not stop Dugin from being delighted with the results of the December 2003 elections, which carried four nationalist parties (the presidential party United Russia, the CPRF, the LDPR, and Rodina) into the Duma. Dugin has connections with every one of them, and some members of each of these parties openly acknowledge having been inspired by his theories.
