Vladimir Putin rally in Sevastopol 2018-03-14

Putinism (russian: путинизм, translit=putinizm) is the

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, and

economic system An economic system, or economic order, is a system of Production (economics), production, resource allocation and Distribution (economics), distribution of goods and services within a society or a given geographic area. It includes the combinati ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

formed during the

political leader A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

ship of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

. It is characterized by the concentration of political and financial powers in the hands of "

silovik In the Russian political lexicon, a ''silovik'' ( rus, силови́к, p=sʲɪlɐˈvʲik; plural: ''siloviki'', rus, силовики́, p=sʲɪləvʲɪˈkʲi) is a person who works in the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian national police, ...

s", current and former "people with

shoulder mark A shoulder mark, also called rank slide, or slip-on, is a flat cloth sleeve worn on the shoulder strap of a uniform. It may bear rank or other insignia. A shoulder mark should not be confused with a ''shoulder board'' (which is an elaborate sho ...

s", coming from a total of 22 governmental enforcement agencies, the majority of them being the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

(FSB), Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia,

Armed Forces of Russia The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

, and

National Guard of Russia The National Guard of the Russian Federation (russian: Федеральная служба войск национальной гвардии Российской Федерации , translit = Federal'naya sluzhba voysk natsional'noy gvard ...

.Russia: Putin May Go, But Can 'Putinism' Survive?
, By Brian Whitmore,

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

, 29 August 2007. According to

Arnold Beichman Arnold Beichman (May 17, 1913February 17, 2010 Podhoretz, John"Arnold Beichman, 1913–2010."'' Commentary'', February 18, 2010. Archived frothe original./ref>) was an author, scholar, and a critic of communism. At the time of his death, he was ...

, "Putinism in the 21st century has become as significant a watchword as Stalinism was in the 20th." The " Chekist takeover" of the Russian state and economic assets has been allegedly accomplished by a

clique A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ), in the social sciences, is a group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popular ...

of Putin's close associates and friendsThe Essence of Putinism: The Strengthening of the Privatized State
by Dmitri Glinski Vassiliev,

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

, November 2000. who gradually became a leading group of

Russian oligarchs Russian oligarchs ( Russian: олигархи, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet ...

and who "seized control over the financial, media and administrative resources of the Russian state", and restricted democratic freedoms and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

. According to Julie Anderson, Russia has been transformed to an "FSB state".The Chekist Takeover of the Russian State
Anderson, Julie (2006), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 19:2, 237 – 288.The HUMINT Offensive from Putin's Chekist State
Anderson, Julie (2007), International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 20:2, 258 – 316. Mass de-politicization has been described as an important element of Putinism's social course. The mass social involvement being discouraged, the politics are reduced to "pure management" left to those who are in power, free from the interference of the masses. In exchange for non-involvement in the politics, Putinism's

social contract In moral and political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships betw ...

offers limited amount of freedom in the private life.

Characteristics

Sociologists This is a list of sociologists. It is intended to cover those who have made substantive contributions to social theory and research, including any sociological subfield. Scientists in other fields and philosophers are not included, unless at least ...

economists An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

, and

political scientists This is a list of notable political scientists. See the list of political theorists for those who study political theory. See also political science. A * Robert Abelson - Yale University psychologist and political scientist with special int ...

emphasize different features of the system.

Characteristics of Putinism highlighted by publicists and journalists

Personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

of Putin as a "national hero", through glorification in the media, * strong presidential power,Lonely Power
: Why Russia did not become the West and why it is difficult for Russia with the West / Shevtsova L .; Mosk. Carnegie Center. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2010. - 272 p. strengthened even in comparison with Yeltsin times, * strong state control over property, * "sovereign democracy", i.e. a system where Putin works with the "oligarchs created by chaotic, free-market, crony capitalism", who in turn show "absolute fealty", * elements of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

(cooperative

Ozero Ozero (russian: О́зеро, lit. ''lake'') (full name: дачный потребительский кооператив «Озеро», Dacha consumer cooperative "Ozero") is a dacha cooperative associated with Vladimir Putin's inner circl ...

), * reliance on

i (people from several dozen security agencies, many of whom worked with Putin before he came to power), * selective application of justice, arbitrary application of the law ("Everything is for the friends, the law is for the enemies"), * relatively liberal but non-transparent financial and tax policies, * "manual control" mode, a weak technical

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

that does not have any political weight, with real control of the country from the presidential administration,{{cite news, http://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2012/05/22_e_4597105.shtml Closed government. Vladimir Putin preserves the manual control system] {{Webarchive, url=https://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2012/05/22_e_4597105.shtml , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221225313/https://www.gazeta.ru/comments/2012/05/22_e_4597105.shtml , archive-date=2018-02-21 , date=21 February 2018 . // Gazeta.ru * utmost secrecy of power and backstage making of key decisions, * "conservative resistance" to the Western decadence of irreligion, "same-sex marriage, radical feminism, homosexuality, mass immigration", that is being globalized under the cover of democracy and human rights; * embrace of the values of orthodox Christianity against liberal cosmopolitanism but also support for other anti-liberal, hard right authoritarians outside of Russia,{{cite news , title=The Making of Vladimir Putin , agency=New York Times , date=26 March 2022 , author= Cohen, Roger * using the claim of protecting "our common Fatherland, Great Rus", as a "spiritual cover for ... kleptocracy", * the authorities' dislike of freedom to express their opinion, Censorship in Russia, censorship, Vladimir Putin 21 February 2001-2

* strategic relations with The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, protecting the property interests of the church, and a policy of promoting clericalization of society, *

Eurasianism Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, ...

that posits that Russian civilization does not belong in the "

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an" or "

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n" categories but instead to the

geopolitical Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

concept of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

, therefore making Russia a standalone civilization. * pan-Russian variant of

ultranationalism Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...

. * In the international arena, Putinism is characterized by nostalgia for

Soviet times The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

and a desire to regain the situation before 1989 when the Soviet Union competed on a strong footing with United States in international affairs. Energy is used as an instrument of international politics (so-called "pipeline diplomacy"). ** In response to the Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Putinism has been characterised by Western politicians as "

authoritarianism Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political '' status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

, ...

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

, ...

ethno-nationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politic ...

Characteristics of Putinism highlighted by political scientists

M. Urnov and V. Kasamara established among political scientists "direct signs of the departure of the current political system of Russia from the basic principles of competition policy":{{cite book , last1=Урнов , first1=Марк , last2=Касамара , first2=Валерия , date=2005 , title=Современная Россия: вызовы и ответы: Сборник материалов. , trans-title=Modern Russia: Challenges and Answers: Collection of materials. , url=https://publications.hse.ru/books/65732426 , language=ru , pages=26–27 , access-date=26 August 2019 , archive-date=26 August 2019 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826110912/https://publications.hse.ru/books/65732426 , url-status=live * centralization,Dutch sociologist Marcel Van Herpe
Putinism
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719110035/http://marcelhvanherpen.com/books/overview/putinism , date=19 July 2019 . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; January 2013. {{ISBN, 978-1-137-28281-1{{blockquote, Van Herpen compares in detail the many and often surprising parallels that exist between Putin's regime and that of Weimar Germany and Mussolini's Italy, indicating the presence of strong Fascist elements in contemporary Russia.
However, this is tempered by other elements that show a resemblance with the Bonapartism from Napoleon III's France and the post-modern populism of Silvio Berlusconi, creating a hybrid system which can be labelled 'Fascism-lite'. Although 'Putinism' has a softer face than Mussolinian Fascism, it still contains a hard core of ultra-nationalism, militarism, and neo-imperialism. strong presidential power, weakening of the political influence of regional elites and big business, * establishment of direct or indirect state control over the main television channels of the country,

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

, * the ever-increasing use of the "administrative resource"{{clarify, date=February 2022 in elections at the regional and federal levels, * the actual elimination of the system of separation of powers, the establishment of control over the judicial system, * non-public style of political behavior, *monopolization of political power in the hands of the president{{cite web , url=https://echo.msk.ru/blog/boris_vis/1905094-echo/ , title=Десять признаков путинизма , trans-title=Ten signs of Putinism , last=Вишневский , first=Борис Лазаревич , author-link=:ru:Вишневский, Борис Лазаревич , date=6 January 2017 , website=echo.msk.ru , access-date=14 June 2019 , archive-date=1 April 2019 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401180219/https://echo.msk.ru/blog/boris_vis/1905094-echo/ , url-status=live * priority of state interests over the interests of the individual, restriction of the rights of citizens, Reprisals against

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. * creating an image of a "besieged fortress", equating opposition activities with hostility, and ousting it from the political field,Марлен Ларюэль �
Путинизм как голлизм
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401193717/https://inosmi.ru/politic/20170228/238796361.html , date=1 April 2019 * {{ill, Vladimir Putin's cult of personality, ru, Культ личности Путина, lt=Putin's personality cult, the embodiment of state succession in it after a serious injury from the

collapse of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, * bureaucratic

,What is 'Putinism'?
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205173344/http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/7/521.html , date=5 February 2009 , by Andranik Migranyan, ''Russia in Global affairs'', 13 April 2004
рус.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309215536/http://www.fondedin.ru/sr/new/fullnews_arch_to.php?subaction=showfull&id=1078960092&archive=1078960200&start_from=&ucat=14& , date=9 March 2016 ) the presence of the ruling party merged with the bureaucratic apparatus, * state corporativism,социолог и политический аналитик Леон Арон: {{cite journal , first=Leon , last=Aron , title=Putinism , publisher=

American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...

, date=8 May 2008 , page=16 , url=http://www.aei.org/publication/putinism/ , format=online , access-date=31 January 2008 , journal= , archive-date=24 January 2015 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124070148/http://www.aei.org/publication/putinism/ , url-status=live * strong state control over property, * aggressive foreign policy (

jingoism Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inte ...

), * focus on order and conservative values, * ideology of national greatness, *

anti-Western sentiment Anti-Western sentiment, also known as Anti-Atlanticism or Westernophobia, refers to broad opposition, bias, or hostility towards the people, culture, or policies of the Western world. Definition and usage In many modern cases, anti-Western s ...

Russian political scientist

Andrey Piontkovsky Andrey Andreyevich Piontkovsky (russian: Андре́й Андре́евич Пионтко́вский, born June 30, 1940, Moscow) is a Russian scientist and political writer and analyst, a member of International PEN Club. He is a former mem ...

argues that the ideology of

Rashism Ruscism, also known as Rashism,, ; , group=lower-alpha Russism,, group=lower-alpha or Russian fascism,; , group=lower-alpha is a term used by a number of scholars, politicians and publicists to describe the Ideology, political ideology and s ...

is in many ways similar to German fascism (

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

), while the speeches of President

reflect similar ideas to those of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

.{{Citation , title=Що переможе: здоровий глузд чи імперські амбіції? Андрій Піонтковський. , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wucOzeeCq8A , language=en , access-date=2022-02-26{{Citation , title="Путинский режим — постмодернистский фашизм" , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3erAJI8nFo , language=en , access-date=2022-02-26

Silovik influence

{{Main, Silovik A sociological investigation unveiling the phenomena was done in 2004 by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, who determined the proportion of siloviks in the Russian political elite to be 25%.Mission "intrusion" is complete!
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060723095634/http://2004.novayagazeta.ru/nomer/2004/63n/n63n-s43.shtml , date=23 July 2006 by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, 2004,

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Новая газета, t=New Gazette, p=ˈnovəjə ɡɐˈzʲetə) is an independent Russian newspaper known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs. It is published in Mo ...

(in Russian) In Putin's "inner circle" which constitutes about 20 people, the amount of siloviks rises to 58%, and fades to 18–20% in Parliament and 34% in the Government. According to Kryshtanovskaya, there was no capture of power as Kremlin bureaucracy has called siloviks in order to "restore order". The process of siloviks coming into power allegedly started in 1996,

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

's second term. "Not personally Yeltsin, but the whole elite wished to stop the revolutionary process and consolidate power." When silovik Vladimir Putin was appointed Prime Minister in 1999, the process was boosted. According to Kryshtanovskaya, "Yes, Putin has brought siloviks with him. But that's not enough to understand the situation. Here's also an objective aspect: the whole political class wished them to come. They were called for service... There was a need of a strong arm, capable from point of view of the elite to establish order in the country." Kryshtanovskaya has also noted that there were people who had worked in structures "affiliated" with the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

/FSB. Structures usually considered as such are the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Governmental Communications Commission,

Ministry of Foreign Trade A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

, Press Agency ''News'' and others. "The itself work in such agencies doesn't involve necessary contacts with special services, but makes you think about it."Fradkov: jacket over straps
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806193907/http://www.cprf.info/projects/vlast/22071.shtml , date=6 August 2020 , by Olga Kryshtanovskaya, 2004 (in Russian) Summing up numbers of official and "affiliated" siloviks she got an estimate of 77% of such in the power.

Putin's amendments to the Russian Constitution of 2020

With Putin's signing an executive order on 3 July 2020 to officially insert the amendments into the Russian Constitution, they took effect on 4 July 2020. Vladimir Pastukhov, a Russian

political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and honorary senior

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, the ...

of the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

's School of Slavonic and East European Studies, and

Alexander Podrabinek Alexander Pinkhosovich Podrabinek (russian: Алекса́ндр Пи́нхосович Подраби́нек; born 8 August 1953, Elektrostal) is a Soviet dissident, journalist and commentator. During the Soviet period he was a human rights ac ...

, a

Soviet dissident Soviet dissidents were people who disagreed with certain features of Soviet ideology or with its entirety and who were willing to speak out against them. The term ''dissident'' was used in the Soviet Union in the period from the mid-1960s until ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and Russian

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

, state that

has been taking on the characteristics of a

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

as a result of the

constitutional amendments A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

. This is reflected in incremental but steady and aggressive process of the seizing of full control over public and private life, and de facto criminalization of any opposition and dissidence.

Classification

Intelligence state

{{main, Counterintelligence state According to former

Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...

general

Ion Mihai Pacepa Ion Mihai Pacepa (; 28 October 1928 – 14 February 2021) was a Romanian two-star general in the Securitate, the secret police of the Socialist Republic of Romania, who defected to the United States in July 1978 following President Jimmy Carter' ...

, "In the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the

was a state within a state. Now former KGB officers are running the state. They have custody of the country's 6,000 nuclear weapons, entrusted to the KGB in the 1950s, and they now also manage the strategic oil industry renationalized by Putin. The KGB successor, rechristened FSB, still has the right to electronically monitor the population, control political groups, search homes and businesses, infiltrate the federal government, create its own front enterprises, investigate cases, and run its own prison system. The Soviet Union had one KGB officer for every 428 citizens. Putin's Russia has one FSB-ist for every 297 citizens."The Kremlin's Killing Ways
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213083304/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MzY4NWU2ZjY3YWYxMDllNWQ5MjQ3ZGJmMzg3MmQyNjQ= , date=13 December 2007 – by Ion Mihai Pacepa, National Review Online, 28 November 2006. "Under

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

President and former career foreign intelligence officer

, an " FSB State" composed of chekists has been established and is consolidating its hold on the country. Its closest partners are

organized criminals Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. In a world marked by a globalized economy and information infrastructure, and with transnational terrorism groups utilizing all available means to achieve their goals and further their interests,

Russian intelligence The Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation ( rus, Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации, r=Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii , p=ˈsluʐbə ˈvnʲɛʂnʲɪj rɐˈzvʲɛ ...

collaboration with these elements is potentially disastrous", said politologist Julie Anderson. Former KGB officer Konstantin Preobrazhenskiy shares similar ideas. When asked "How many people in Russia work in FSB?", he replied: "Whole country. FSB owns everything, including

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

and even own Church, the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

... Putin managed to create new

social system In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal structure of role and status that can form in a small, stable group. ...

in Russia". " Vladimir Putin's Russia is a new phenomenon in Europe: a state defined and dominated by former and active-duty security and intelligence officers. Not even fascist Italy,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, or the

– all undoubtedly much worse creations than Russia – were as top-heavy with intelligence talent", said intelligence expert Marc Gerecht.

Corporation-state

{{See also, Corporatism

Andrei Illarionov Andrey Nikolayevich Illarionov (russian: Андре́й Никола́евич Илларио́нов, born 16 September 1961) is a Russian economist and former senior policy advisor to Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, from April 2000 ...

considers the political system in Russia as a variety of

corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

. According to Illarionov, a former advisor of

, this is a new socio-political order, "distinct from any seen in our country before". He said that members of the

Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

Service Collaborators took over the entire body of state power, follow an omerta-like behavior code, and "are given instruments conferring power over others – membership “perks”, such as the right to carry and use weapons". According to Illarionov, this "Corporation has seized key government agencies – the Tax Service,

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and the government-controlled mass media – which are now used to advance the interests of orporationmembers. Through these agencies, every significant resource of the country – security/intelligence, political, economic, informational and financial – is being monopolized in the hands of Corporation members".{{Cite web, title=Partial English translation, url=http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/04/andrei_illarionov_approaching.htm, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705011725/http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/04/andrei_illarionov_approaching.htm, archive-date=5 July 2007, access-date= Members of the Corporation created an isolated

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. A former KGB general said that "a Chekist is a breed... A good KGB heritage—a father or grandfather, say, who worked for the service—is highly valued by today's

i. Marriages between siloviki clans are also encouraged."Russia under Putin. The making of a neo-KGB state.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412215032/http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9682621 , date=12 April 2016 ,

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

, 23 August 2007.

Single-party bureaucratic state

Russian politician

Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov ( rus, Бори́с Ефи́мович Немцо́в, p=bɐˈrʲis jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪmˈtsof; 9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. He was involved in the introduction ...

and activist

Vladimir Kara-Murza Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza (russian: Владимир Владимирович Кара-Мурза; born 7 September 1981) is a Russian political activist, journalist, author, and filmmaker. A protégé of Boris Nemtsov, he serves as vi ...

defined Putinism in 2004 as "a

one party system A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

, a puppet parliament, ending of an independent judiciary, firm centralization of power and finances, and hypertrophied role of special services and

bureaucracy The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

, in particular in relation to business".

State gangsterism

{{See also , Mafia state

Political analyst Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Andrei Piontkovsky Andrey Andreyevich Piontkovsky (russian: Андре́й Андре́евич Пионтко́вский, born June 30, 1940, Moscow) is a Russian scientist and political writer and analyst, a member of International PEN Club. He is a former mem ...

considers Putinism as "the highest and culminating stage of bandit capitalism in Russia”. He believes that "Russia is not corrupt.

Corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

is what happens in all countries when businessmen offer officials large bribes for favors. Today's Russia is unique. The businessmen, the politicians, and the bureaucrats are the same people. They have

privatized Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

the country's wealth and taken control of its financial flows." Such views are also shared by politologist Julie Anderson who said the same person can be a Russian intelligence officer, an organized criminal, and a businessman. She also cited former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

director

James Woolsey Robert James Woolsey Jr. (born September 21, 1941) is an American political appointee who has served in various senior positions. He headed the Central Intelligence Agency as Director of Central Intelligence from February 5, 1993, until January 1 ...

who said: "I have been particularly concerned for some years, beginning during my tenure, with the interpenetration of Russian organized crime, Russian intelligence and law enforcement, and Russian business. I have often illustrated this point with the following hypothetical: If you should chance to strike up a conversation with an articulate, English-speaking Russian in, say, the restaurant of one of the luxury hotels along Lake Geneva, and he is wearing a $3,000 suit and a pair of Gucci loafers, and he tells you that he is an executive of a Russian trading company and wants to talk to you about a joint venture, then there are four possibilities. He may be what he says he is. He may be a Russian intelligence officer working under commercial cover. He may be part of a Russian organized crime group. But the really interesting possibility is that he may be all three and that none of those three institutions have any problem with the arrangement." According to political analyst Dmitri Glinski, "The idea of Russia, Inc.--or better, Russia, Ltd.--derives from the Russian brand of

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

viewing the state as just another private armed gang claiming special rights on the basis of its unusual power." "This is a state conceived as a "stationary bandit" imposing stability by eliminating the roving bandits of the previous era." In April 2006, the effective privatization of the customs sphere infuriated Putin himself, where businessmen and officials "merged in ecstasy".

Ideology

The following observers discuss the ideology of new Russian political elite. Politologist Irina Pavlova said that Chekists are not merely a corporation of people united to expropriate financial assets. They have long-standing political objectives of transforming

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

into the

Third Rome The continuation, succession and revival of the Roman Empire is a running theme of the history of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. It reflects the lasting memories of power and prestige associated with the Roman Empire itself. Several politi ...

and

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

ideology of containing the United States.Badly informed optimists
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182740/http://grani.ru/Politics/Russia/President/m.128359.html , date=3 March 2016 , by Irina Pavlova, grani.ru. Columnist

George Will George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC.Hadas Gold, Gold, Hadas (May ...

emphasized the

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: T ...

nature of Putinism. He said that "Putinism is becoming a toxic brew of nationalism directed against neighboring nations, and populist envy, backed by assaults of state power, directed against private wealth. Putinism is

national socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

without the demonic element of its pioneer ...". According to Illarionov, the

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

of chekists is

Nashism Nashism (russian: нашизм) and Nashists are post-Soviet Russian political neologisms derived from the word "наши" ("

hose who are A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called ''pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally ...

ours", i.e., those of the ingroup). The word is used to refer to various forms of worldview based on the ...

("ours-ism"), the selective application of rights". In 2010, Peter Sucia, an American historian and ''

The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, D ...

'' contributor, was one of the first publicists to explicitly describe Putin as a leader who is sincerely convinced in his fascist values as righteous. Sucia wrote: "Some historians and economists have noted that fascism is actually an anti-Marxist form of socialism, especially as it favors

class collaboration Class collaboration is a principle of social organization based upon the belief that the division of society into a hierarchy of social classes is a positive and essential aspect of civilization. Fascist support Class collaboration is one of th ...

and supports the concept of nationalism — the latter being something that Marxists could never support. A diehard Marxist leader wouldn't get on a plane and fly halfway around the world to try and win support for

the Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

to be hosted in his country, even his hometown. But a tried and true Fascist might do so." Z_symbol_on_a_billboard

In February 2021, Putin linked his own personal thought and ideology to that of

Lev Gumilyov Lev Nikolayevich Gumilyov (russian: Лев Никола́евич Гумилёв; 1 October 1912 – 15 June 1992) was a Soviet historian, ethnologist, anthropologist and translator. He had a reputation for his highly unorthodox theories of et ...

, stating that he too believed in 'passionarity', the rise and fall of societies as described by this theory and specifically that Russia was a nation 'has not yet attained its highest point', with an 'infinite genetic code'. According to Michael Hirsh, a senior correspondent at ''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'': {{quote, Graham and other Russia experts said it is a mistake to view Putin merely as an angry former KGB apparatchik upset at the fall of the Soviet Union and NATO’s encroachment after the Cold War, as he is often portrayed by Western commentators. Putin, himself, made this clear in his Feb. 21 speech, when he disavowed the Soviet legacy, inveighing against the mistakes made by former leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin to grant Ukraine even partial autonomy. ... Putin is rather a messianic

Russian nationalist Russian nationalism is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence in the early 19th century, and from its origin in the Russian Empire, to its repression during early ...

and Eurasianist whose constant invocation of history going back to

Kievan Rus Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

, however specious, is the best explanation for his view that Ukraine must be part of Russia’s sphere of influence, experts say. In his essay last July, Putin even suggested that the formation of a separate, democratic Ukrainian nation “is comparable in its consequences to the use of weapons of mass destruction against us.”{{cite news , title=Putin's Thousand-Year War , url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/12/putins-thousand-year-war/ , work=Foreign Policy , date=12 March 2022 Oxford historian

Roger Griffin Roger David Griffin (born 31 January 1948) is a British professor of modern history and political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England. His principal interest is the socio-historical and ideological dynamics of fascism, as well as va ...

compared Putin's Russia to World War II-era

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, saying that like Putin's Russia, it "emulated fascism in many ways, but was not fascist." American historian Stanley G. Payne argued that Putin's political system is "more a revival of the creed of Tsar Nicholas I in the 19th century that emphasized 'Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality' than one resembling the revolutionary, modernizing regimes of Hitler and Mussolini."

Anti-Americanism

{{Seealso, Anti-American sentiment in Russia In response to the growing anti-Americanism after the

Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

in the Russian intellectual-political class, the director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements,

Boris Kagarlitsky Boris Yulyevich Kagarlitsky (russian: Бори́с Ю́льевич Кагарли́цкий; born 29 August 1958) is a Russian Marxist theoretician and sociologist who has been a political dissident in the Soviet Union. He is coordinator of ...

, said, "Ironically, one of the dominant trends here is that we are anti-American because we want to be exactly like America. We are angry that Americans are allowed to invade minor nations and we are not." According to Moscow Carnegie Center Director

Dmitri Trenin Dmitri Vitalyevich Trenin () is a member of . He was the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a Russian think tank. A former colonel of Russian military intelligence, Trenin served for 21 years in the Soviet Army and Russian Ground Forces, be ...

, anti-Americanism in Russia is becoming the basis for official patriotism. Further researcher states that the Russian ruling elite have stopped pretending that it follows the West and cherishes its declared values. Now, Moscow openly states that its values are not completely common with modern Western values in such fields as democracy, human rights, national sovereignty, role of government, the church, and the nature of family. Putin's Russia has formed alliances with anti-American regimes in non-Western countries such as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Relation to far-right

Putinism and Fascism

Latvian journalist Bens Latkovskis of ''

Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze ''Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze'' (Independent Morning Newspaper) is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published in Riga. Since 5 May 2020, it is only published online, with the last print edition coming out on 30 April 2020. Th ...

'' has criticized the attempts to draw comparasion between Putinism and Fascism as inaccurate, stating that the main difference between the two ideologies is one that actually places them on almost opposite sides of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...

. He argues that fascism, imbued with revolutionary ideas and seeking to implement changes which would push humanity into a new anthropological order, relied on mobilization of masses of the population and their active participation in politics in order to implement these changes. Putinism, on the other hand, is counter-revolutionary, strictly opposed to any

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

s and social mobilization and aims at the de-politicization of society, which it sees as a threat to its existence. The mass social involvement being discouraged, the politics are reduced to "pure management" left to those who are in power, free from the interference of the masses. In exchange to non-involvement in the politics, Putinism's

offers limited amount of freedom in the private life.

Putinism and Russian ethnic nationalism

{{Broader, Russian nationalism#Contemporary nationalism Professing its own vision of Russian nationalism, primarily based on a predominantly civil understanding of Russian national identity, Putinism has been challenged by the alternative form of Russian nationalism based on ethnic roots. Ethnic nationalists are critical of Putin's immigration policy, which allows migration of millions of people from post-Soviet Central Asia and Caucasus to Russia's traditionally Slavic heartland. Highlighting his stance on " Russia for Russians" slogan in a 2003 television broadcast, Putin said the people who act upon such slogan are "either idiots or provocateurs" who want to weaken the Russian Federation, which he framed as multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. The law against "extremism" being adopted in 2002 has resulted in closures of many prominent nationalist organizations in Russia, including the

Movement Against Illegal Immigration The Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI; russian: Движение против нелегальной иммиграции; ДПНИ; ''Dvizheniye protiv nelegalnoy immigratsii'', ''DPNI'') was a Russian far-right, nationalist and racist ...

and the

Slavic Union National Socialist Movement "Slavic Union" (russian: Национал-социалистическое движение "Славянский союз", Natsional-sotsialisticheskoye dvizheniye "Slavyanskiy soyuz") was a Russian neo-Nazi organiza ...

. According to Robert Horvath of

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...

, during the 1990s, when Russia saw waves of racist violence and Putin became president in 2000, his regime exploited this threat to introduce anti-extremism legislation that was also used to target pro-democracy and left-wing activists. The Kremlin's "managed nationalism" would "co-opt and mobilise radical nationalist militants" to fight against the opposition. Afterward, the violent radical nationalists got jailed while others flourished to promote pro-Putin Russian nationalism.

Putinism and the Western far-right

Marine Le Pen and Vladimir Putin (2017-03-24) 02

A number of

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

politicians and parties in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

have been linked with Putin, including

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...

, and parts of the

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

. Putinism has also received support from a number of American far-right figures. Some populists started to distance themselves from Putin after

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Richard Shorten of the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

has stated that Putin "has been appealing, not just for extreme 'manosphere' white supremacists, but also for more 'mainstream' western reactionaries attracted by an unapologetic social conservatism."{{cite web , author-last=Shorten , author-first=Richard , date=17 March 2022 , title=Putin's not a fascist, totalitarian or revolutionary – he's a reactionary tyrant , url=https://theconversation.com/putins-not-a-fascist-totalitarian-or-revolutionary-hes-a-reactionary-tyrant-179256 , access-date=2 April 2022 , work=

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Rober ...

Jason Stanley Jason Stanley (born 1969) is an American philosopher who is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is best known for his contributions to philosophy of language and epistemology, which often draw upon and influence other ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

argued that Putin was "the leader of Russian Christian nationalism" and "has come to view himself as the global leader of Christian nationalism, and is increasingly regarded as such by Christian nationalists around the world."

Relationship with history

{{See also, On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians A number of commentators have remarked on the importance of history in the views and actions of Vladimir Putin, with several stating themes of

Russian irredentism Russian irredentism refers to irredentist claims to parts of the former Russian Empire or the former Soviet Union made for Russia. It seeks to incorporate Russians outside of Russian borders into the current Russian state. The 2014 annexation ...

and

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

. Fredrik Logevall of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

has stated that "In a way, I think history is what drives him." Oliver Bullough of the Institute of War and Peace Reporting has argued that Putin's "two core aims" was to restore stability and put an end to revolutions in Russia and to return Russia to a status of a great power.

Russian Empire

Some commentators have described Putin as wishing to restore the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. James Krapfl of

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

has suggested that Putin may be in part inspired by

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

, stating that "parallels with Putin’s strategy are striking." On 9 June 2022, on the 350th anniversary of the birth of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

, Putin described the land that had been conquered by Peter in the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

against Sweden as land being returned to Russia. He also compared the task facing Russia today to that of Peter's. Several commentators have also described Putinism as in part an attempt to revive the Russian Empire's doctrine of "

Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality (russian: Правосла́вие, самодержа́вие, наро́дность, Pravoslávie, samoderzhávie, naródnost'), also known as Official Nationality,Riasanovsky, p. 132 was the dominant imper ...

". Faith Hillis of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

has argued that Putin "wants to reconstitute the Russian Empire and its guiding ideologies, which were orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality—except now, under the power of a very sophisticated police state." A 2014 paper in the ''

Journal of Eurasian Studies The ''Journal of Eurasian Studies'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on the Eurasian region. It was established in 2010 by the Asia-Pacific Research Center of Hanyang University. From 2010 to 2018, the department publ ...

'' compares Putin to

Emperor Nicholas I , house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp , father = Paul I of Russia , mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) , birth_date = , birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire , death_date = ...

, under whose reign the doctrine was instituted, arguing that "Putin has emphasized patriotism, power, and statism to justify centralization of power and authoritarian policies. Putin's policies and rhetoric are strong analogs to those of Nicholas."

Soviet Union

Richard Shorten of the

has stated that "what Putin retains from the Soviet era is not its utopianism but its late-period security obsession." Tom Parfitt of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' has said that, according to

Richard Sakwa Richard Sakwa (born 1953) is a British political scientist and a former professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent, a senior research fellow at the National Research University-Higher School of Economics in Moscow, a ...

, Putin's Soviet patriotism "had little to do with promoting communist values and more to do with besting the enemies surrounding the motherland."

Collapse of the Soviet Union

1991 Republic of Soviet Union (30849143016)

Putin has made a number of comments referring to the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991, often blaming it on the creation of federal republics for national minorities within the Soviet Union and on the reforms brought by

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

in the late-1980s. In 2005, he referred to it as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century". In a documentary released in 2021, he referred to it as "a disintegration of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union." In his 2022 "

Address concerning the events in Ukraine "Address concerning the events in Ukraine" (russian: Обращение по поводу событий на Украине) was a televised address by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 21 February 2022, announcing that the Russian government ...

", he referred to it as the "collapse of the historical Russia". He has also said: "Anyone who doesn't regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains." In several occasions, Putin has blamed Communist leader

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

for the collapse of the Soviet Union, arguing that his favourable policies toward national minorities in the Soviet Union contributed to destabilize Russia; in his 2022 speech about Ukraine, Putin went so far to state that “modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik, Communist Russia.". Some commentators have argued these statements show that he wishes to restore the Soviet Union. After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

begun, U.S. President Joe Biden stated that Putin "wants to, in fact, reestablish the former Soviet Union. That's what this is about." That claim has been disputed by many commentators. Mario Kessler of the

Centre for Contemporary History The Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (German: ''Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung'', abbreviated ''ZZF'') is an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on the contemporary history of Europe, especially Germany, and ...

has stated that Putin is rather "taking up the imperial desires of tsarist Russia" and that "Lenin's internationalism and Putin's

Great Russian chauvinism Great Russian chauvinism (russian: Великорусский шовинизм) is a term defined by the early Soviet government officials, most notably Vladimir Lenin to describe an ideology of the "dominant exploiting classes of the nation, holdin ...

are, indeed, incompatible". Cihan Tugal of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

has described Putin's view of history as one "where Ukraine and the other nations of the USSR are communist artefacts, and only Russia is real and natural".

Naomi Klein Naomi A. Klein (born May 8, 1970) is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses, support of ecofeminism, organized labour, left-wing politics and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism, ecofascism ...

has argued that Putin has been motivated in part by "a desire to overcome the shame of punishing economic shock therapy imposed on Russia at the end of the Cold War".{{Cite web , last=Klein , first=Naomi , date=1 March 2022 , title=Toxic Nostalgia, from Putin to Trump to the Trucker Convoys , url=https://theintercept.com/2022/03/01/war-climate-crisis-putin-trump-oil-gas/ , website=

The Intercept ''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing news website founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Its current editor is Betsy Reed. The publication initially reported ...

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

* {{Wiktionary inline, Putinism {{Russian nationalism {{2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Vladimir Putin Conservatism in Russia Eponymous political ideologies Politics of Russia Populism Right-wing ideologies Right-wing populism in Russia Russian nationalism Russian irredentism

Characteristics

Characteristics of Putinism highlighted by publicists and journalists

Characteristics of Putinism highlighted by political scientists

Silovik influence

Putin's amendments to the Russian Constitution of 2020

Classification

Intelligence state

Corporation-state

Single-party bureaucratic state

State gangsterism

Ideology

Anti-Americanism

Relation to far-right

Putinism and Fascism

Putinism and Russian ethnic nationalism

Putinism and the Western far-right

Relationship with history

Russian Empire

Soviet Union

Collapse of the Soviet Union

See also

References

Further reading

External links