by Carl Wells
I make no pretense that this is any kind of a scholarly work. This is merely the result of research done because of so many people discussing Russia are doing so based on logic, mores, and values that are not applicable. Russia is an Eastern nation with a long, varied history. The variety of different cultures that have made up Russia over the centuries contribute to it.
Many believe that Vladimir Putin’s actions are those of mad man, someone delusional, or just whacked out of his mind. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to agree, it’s not possible. Putin is a product of Soviet Russia, the KGB as an intelligence service, and principal leader of KGB Inc., or as some people call it, Russia.
Becoming the head of state of one of the world’s nuclear powers was not preordained or planned for Putin unless the devil himself had a hand in it. In a famous picture he was the young man (later discovered to be a KGB agent) on Red Square with an adolescent, claimed to be his son at the time, talking to President Reagan. He went on to KGB assignments in then East Germany before going to the KGB office in Saint Petersburg. He became the mayor of Saint Petersburg and followed that by being elected to the Duma (which still existed). From there, after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, he was to reach the highest rank of Russian leadership.
Gorbachev and Yeltsin represented the last of the Communist Party operatives to hold power. Putin was one of the new or young generation at the time the USSR fell apart. After taking power Putin brought in the former KGB senior staff with former co-workers from the Saint Petersburg KGB office. They were positioned to head the external and internal security services. The two ‘outsiders’ are Sergei Shoigu, the Defense Minister, who came up not through the military, but through the ranks of Emergency Services (think FEMA & national level EMS combined). He became close to Putin and is not one of ‘the Saint Petersburg crowd’.
Sergey Lavrov has served as Foreign Minister since 2004 and is a career foreign service officer. That would have placed him close to KGB operations in every foreign station he served in. Prior to becoming the Foreign Minister, he was the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations which some folks in the US Intelligence Community have been heard to call it the Lubyanka Western Branch office. This was the start of the rule by the Siloviki which is the power center of Russia. The Dumas has remained a rubber stamp and voice. The once vaulted Oligarch’s have either sworn allegiance to Putin, lost their wealth, or tragically committed suicide with their family. There have been a few that have shockingly been murdered if you can believe that.
Putin brought to office a set of values and beliefs that don’t quite match well with Western Values and Norms. This is where a lack of understanding will bewilder someone trying to make sense of his actions and the Russian peoples support for him. His rise in the early 2000s also brought a new wave of anti-western opinion and antisemitism in Russia.
Putin is a believer in Traditionalism which puts forth the universal wisdom and patrimony of humankind. This brings with it opposition to western style Christianity. Traditionalism is also credited with strong influence in the French Novelle Droite (New Right). Some followers of the Novelle Droite see the destruction of Christian Heritage in Europe as a goal. This also brings in other radical right wing thought like Euro-Nationalism, Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Nazi Occultism, Ethnocentrism, and Neo Fascism, just to name a few.
In Russia the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) is considered a civil or encompassing religion that can bring in other ethnic religions or ‘confessions’ into a single national religion. While many Russians view the ROC a positive thing in general, relatively few practice the tenants of the religion. It does have no little influence in the country. If you watched the Victory Day Parade on May 12th, you would have seen the Patriarch in his white vestments escorted to the reviewing stand. This is the same man who stated that ‘Ukraine must be destroyed’. That one statement put the entirety of the worldwide Russian Orthodox Church in a blender, which I do not know if it has completely shaken out yet. Many of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine considered themselves under the Patriarch of Moscow. That has been changing in the Ukraine and elsewhere as many turns to the Eastern Orthodox Church in Turkey.
The next foundation layer is Eurasianism. This is the believe that Western Europe is one region or continent extending to the eastern borders of Russia. This also predisposes not a national identity, but a belief based on geographic space. This is also behind a belief that Moscow is ‘sacred ground’ from pre-historic pagan times to present day. From that Moscow is to be the political, economic, and cultural center of Eurasia after all those pesky less countries in Eurasia fall in line. While religiously tolerant, the Russian political theorist Alexsander Dugin, who has strong influenced Putin, believes that Russian Orthodox beliefs are superior and believes in the supremacy of the Moscow Patriarchy. Initially he believed that Putin’s entourage had too many Atlantists and Liberals (not liberal in our sense, but in Russian). Dugin preaches a very hard core Russian Centric political philosophy.
With this as a basis, Russia has developed a rather unique doctrine, theology, or belief system. It is intermixed with the Russian Orthodox Church as already mentioned. There are several basic or core beliefs that are different from the West, which often are not considered. Some of these concepts are totally foreign and seldom discussed in the West.
Religion. Totally based on the Russian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch of Moscow is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Russian Orthodox Church and is an equal if not superior to any other religious leader in the world. Through the church Moscow is to be considered the 3rd Rome and the New Jerusalem. When the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Patriarch Krill continues to defend the invasion of Ukraine it is a continuance of statements that support the Putin line that the ‘Special Operation’ is justified to protect Russia from the decadent, liberal, feminist West and other foreign threats. This is causing a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church as many of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine looked to the Moscow Patriarch for leadership. Most Russians have grown to regard the church as a positive force, but few follow the tenants of the church.
Patriotism and Nationalism. This is considered one and the same in Russia today. You cannot be patriotic without being a Russian nationalist and believing in the destiny of Russia.
Geopolitics Russian Style. This ‘style’ is based on the world view of the Russian political philosopher and analyst Aleksandr Dugin who is a close advisor to Putin. Stephen Shenfield, Assistant Professor at Brown University for International Studies has written, “Crucial to Dugin’s politics is the classical concept of the ‘conservative revolution’ that overturns the post-Enlightenment world and installs a new order in which the heroic values of the almost forgotten ‘Tradition’ are renewed. It is this concept that identifies Dugin unequivocally as a fascist.”
Eurasianism. As previously discussed, this is a central tenant that has been accepted as the Russian destiny to rule from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The development of Russia was influenced more from the Asia tribal groups than from Western Europe. Rather like Anna Karenina meets Genghis Khan. This Neo Eurasianism is based on beliefs, not facts. It is a Russian version of the European Radical Right that focuses on a Paris – Berlin – Moscow axis of influence.
Zapadophobia or Zapadrichestvo. The fear of Western values, mores, and beliefs as being hostile to Russia.
Russian ‘Uniqueness’. This began when the earliest traders ventured out of Russia returning that the ‘Rus’ (Medieval term for Russians or Slavic’s) were unique and beyond parallel in culture.
Russophobia. That ALL foreigners are against Russia. This can be traced back to the 18th Century. Some have called it a Russian Inferiority Complex.
Much of this has been in the Russian psyche for generations. All of this combines to a strong backing of Putin by the Russian people.
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Carl retired after 22 years of combined Marine Corps and Army service. He is currently in a 2nd retirement after working IT in the private sector and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Until the COVID-19 Pandemic, he was a substitute teacher in several local middle and high schools specializing in Special Education and Alternative schools–which he found incredibly similar to dealing with officers and being a Section Sergeant.
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