AN INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDER DUGIN: AGAINST UNIVERSALISM

Would you buy a tapestry from this man?

by Rémi Tremblay

My recent articles have been critical of Eurasianism, and have raised a few questions. Alexander Dugin, the author of the two books referred to in my articles, has kindly offered to answer them.

Rémi Tremblay: In the West, Eurasianism seems to seek to ally itself with nationalists. However, in Russia nationalist groups like the ones that support Russia in the West were crushed and repressed. What can Western nationalists learn from that repression?

Alexander Dugin: Eurasianism works with different groups who are against liberalism, North American hegemony and Modernity as a whole. These groups can be right or left. It is most important to be against liberalism and Atlanticism. But Eurasianism is not nationalistic—it is a Fourth Political Theory, ideologically similar to the European New Right of Alain de Benoist.

PUTIN vs PUTIN: EURASIANISM AND BEYOND

Putin Vs Putin: Vladimir Putin Viewed from the Right
by Alexander Dugin
Arktos Publishing, 316 pages
Buy at Amazon.com

Reviewed by Rémi Tremblay

Few leaders evoke as much fascination as Vladimir Putin. In a world led by mediocrities like Barack Obama, David Cameron, Stephen Harper, and the other poltroons of political correctness and monotone rhetoric, the athletic and mysterious Russian president stands out.

Enigmatic, strong, and unapologetic, this former judo expert and secret service agent has many in the West wondering who Vladimir Putin really is. Still, despite its title, Putin Vs Putin: Vladimir Putin Viewed from the Right was not written in order to answer these questions or even to describe Putin’s reign, but rather it was written to give a Eurasianist critique of the Russian president and his achievements.

THOUGHTS ON DUGIN'S "EURASIAN MISSION"

Ivan Grozny: part of the Eurasian tradition.

by Rémi Tremblay

Count Nikolai Trubetzkoy first established the theory of Eurasianism, and is thus considered the founder of the movement. He was also a friend of Claude Lévi-Strauss, the famous French anthropologist, from whom Eurasianism drew its idea of a pluralistic world. This is the first and most important position of the Eurasian philosophy, which can also be formulated negatively as the rejection of Western universalism.

This universalism also had French roots, growing out of 18th-century Enlightenment thought, the effective imperialism that emerged through the military and technological dominance of the European powers, and the resulting Eurocentrism.

In addition to rejecting these aspects of the West, Eurasianism also rejects the hypocrisy of modern democracy, the ideology of "human rights," and consumerist materialism. To counter Western universalism, Eurasianism proposes a multipolar world that is modulated by a sense of social responsibility and traditionalism.

The ideas of Eurasianism have evolved into what Alexander Dugin terms Neo-Eurasianism and the Fourth Political Theory, the latter also the name of Dugin's best known book in English. Recently published by Arktos, Eurasian Mission is Dugin's most recent summation and update of his theories to appear in English. This allows us to consider his theories and outlook in some detail.

ESSENTIAL EURASIANISM

This is the first in a series of articles on the ideology of Eurasianism, a driving force behind many of Putin’s actions.

"The Three Bogatyrs" (1898) by Viktor Vasnetsov

by Rémi Tremblay

Much has been said about the ideology of Eurasianism—many criticisms raised, many praises expressed—but what exactly does it stand for?

Among the competing definitions and explanations of Eurasianism, that presented by Alexander Dugin in Putin Vs Putin (Arktos, 2014, p. 175 – 177) is probably the best summary of the core beliefs, as it presents the most important elements with neither apology nor justification, unlike many of other explanations that are available.

THE FAILURE OF PUTIN

Putin – Dr. Evil or Mini-Me?

by Colin Liddell

Things either have logical coherence or they don’t. If they do, then there is a high chance that every component element is sound and true, each validated by the other. If they don’t have logical coherence, then obviously something is false and wrong, and we can begin the search for the flawed or broken element.

For a long time, those on the alternative right have tried to view Putin as some kind of saviour, as a force for traditionalism and a much-needed opponent to a globalist West run amok. But who is there among us who has not had his doubts? We all have, and those who haven’t can be dismissed as idiots or unthinking Slavophiles.

JOBBIK'S UNHOLY ALLIANCE

Following the events surrounding the recent NPI conference in Budapest, in which Jobbik distinguished itself by its cowardice and lack of solidarity for fellow identitarians, here is Colin Liddell's appraisal of the party, published last year at the Occidental Observer.

by Colin Liddell

It seems that these days hatred, and the right to use it, even in defence of one’s nation, race, and culture, has to be offset by plenty of misplaced love. This is the take home message from Gábor Vona’s recent trip to Turkey, where the president of the Hungarian nationalist party Jobbik has been declaring his "Eurasian love":

"I didn’t come here to talk to you about the transitory subject of diplomatic and economic relations. Others will do that on behalf of me. I came here to meet my brothers and sisters, to offer a fraternal alliance and bring you the good news: Hungarians are awakening. Our common mission and the universal task of Turanism [see also Hungarian Turanism] are to build bridges between East and West, between Muslims and Christians, to be able to fight together for a better world – to show to the world that Christians and Muslims are not enemies, but brothers and sisters. No one can accomplish this mission more effectively than Hungarians and Turks because we are connected by common blood."

CRIMEA AND PUNISHMENT

Taking a double-barreled approach

by Colin Liddell

What seems to be happening now in the Ukraine is one of the worst outcomes possible. Russia seems poised to take very risky action merely to maintain its dignity and status as a great power. This situation has come about frankly because Putin misread the situation and ended up investing his political capital in Yanukovych, who turned out to be the worst type of corrupt oligarch.

Perhaps it was impossible to find a virgin in the whorehouse of Ukrainian politics, which ties Nigeria for corruption, but perhaps something more could have been done.

The other mistake was alienating the ultra-nationalist and traditionalist forces in the Ukraine, as these provided the revolution with its spearhead. With them on his side, or at least neutral, Yanukovych would still be installing his gold toilets and diamond chandeliers in his latest palace.

"UNITED BY HATRED": AN INTERVIEW WITH ALEXANDR DUGIN

Ukraine: caught between land power and sea power.

by Manuel Ochsenreiter

Prof. Dugin, the Western mainstream media and established politicians describe the recent situation in Ukraine as a conflict between pro-European, democratic and liberal oppositional alliance on the one side and an authoritarian regime with a dictator as president on the other side. Do you agree?

Dugin: I know those stories and I consider this type of analysis totally wrong. We cannot divide the world today in the Cold War style. There is no "democratic world" which stands against an "antidemocratic world," as many Western media report.

THE GREAT HATE OF KIEV

Catching up with their history?

The Historical Vacuum of the Ukraine

by Duns Scotus

This much is clear: there are parts of Russia that don't belong in Russia (e.g. the Caucasus, Kaliningrad) and there are parts of the rest of the world that do.

The reason the mild-mannered people of the Ukraine are currently behaving like a Middle Eastern mob is because their territory cuts right across the essence of that dictum. The Russians, of course, with their geopolitical sense of things – their Eurasianism, which they oppose to what they perceive as the Atlantean octopus – want the whole country in their orbit, as well as quite a few other countries. This is all justified for wider consumption by the fact that the Octopus (some would say Squid) continues to have hundreds of bases around the world. The real reason, however, is that Russia, even without the threat of the Octopus’s tentacles, is – and always has been – an empire.