The West fails to understand that Putin has been influenced by a “Rasputin-like” character named Aleksander Dugin, who believes that Russia belongs at the center of a New World Order because of its innate superiority. Called “Eurasianism”, Dugin’s ideas are creepily similar to Hitler’s “super race” lunacy complete with a desire for worldwide domination. Putin’s other influence is an obscure Soviet-era ethnologist named Lev Gumilyov who believed in “passionarity” – a weird concept that Putin cited last year in a speech: “Russia has not reached its peak. We are on the march, on the march of development. … We have an infinite genetic code. It is based on the mixing of blood."
Even worse, Putin has fused church and state, as did Russia’s Czars, and enlisted Patriarch Kirill, the current head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to assist this war effort. The cleric recently described military service as a "manifestation of evangelical love for neighbors." This unseemly collaboration took on more importance when the Russian Orthodox Church lost supervisory control over the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in January 2019 following centuries of being in charge. Coincidentally, this occurred just before the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Ukraine’s President, a liberal Ukrainian of Jewish descent who was elected to rid the country of corruption and Russian influence. It was the first unrigged election since independence in 1991.
This is a war conducted in the name of Russian glory and God. Charged with “divine” entitlement, Putin will continue to bomb until he conquers the Black Sea coastline and all of the resource-rich Donbas and then some.
Thank you Diane. The papers, books and articles I have been reading have shown me the same. One can hear Dugin in every speech that Putin has given since the war's inception; likewise, when Medvedev spoke of "unleashing the Four Riders of the Apocalypse", you are listening to Dugin; when you hear threats of the use of nuclear weapons, you are hearing him as well ("if Russia loses the war, the majority of mankind will be annihilated", ) or the Russian TV pundits explaining that the bombings of Ukraine's infrastructure are "fueled by holy hatred." Etc. I had no idea what was brewing over there until this war. Major media repeats none of these things.
Churchill is often credited with the aphorism 'democracy is the worst political system; the only thing worse are all the others'. At last count, there are now only 23 functional democracies in the world, and those of us privileged to live in one of them can see how difficult a flower it is to keep healthy. The European Union struggles to contain the autocratic leanings of some of its countries' leaders, but seems to have adopted a long-term approach that believes that democracy will eventually prove itself superior to all the others. It is a bumpy road, and by no means certain of success.
Democratic elections are important, but people in backward countries will elect backward, illiberal leaders. Protection of individual rights, such as free speech, is more important. America’s greatest asset is the extent to which the ideas in the Declaration of Independence still have some implementation in today’s society.
You should certainly have both. What I’m saying is that many people think it’s democracy that makes the West exceptional, which has led to strange ideas like that if we just bring elections to backward countries then they will become civilized. The point is that if one wants to champion the West or to rediscover its “mojo”, it’s crucial to know what made the West great in the first place. The Statue of Liberty is not primarily about democracy but about liberty, i.e., the inalienable rights of man.
Individual rights are a deeply philosophical concept and therefore can serve as the framework for an entire society. Democratic elections, while important, are a much narrower concept relating to one aspect of the government.
"why on earth did Russia’s president—long seen as a savvy operator— launch a military campaign that almost everyone, from think-tankers in Moscow to regular Russian grunts, could have told him would fail?" The same could be asked of democratic leaders about Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam...
"But as it has, his thinking has become both delusional and lazy, in part because he’s surrounded himself with yes-men, in part because he’s limited the flow of accurate information to his office, and in part because he’s ensured that no one can challenge him." Does this not describe our current Prime Minister to a T. (with the proviso that he also has yes-women)?
Mar 30, 2022·edited Mar 30, 2022Liked by Jonathan Tepperman, The Octavian Report
This is essentially the argument set out by Karl Popper in 1945 in his magnificent work The Open Society and it’s Enemies. Popper considered the electoral process to be “mere questions of personnel” and that the emphasis of democracy must be strong institutions that allow control of elected representatives but more importantly term limits and procedures for removal from office.
The West fails to understand that Putin has been influenced by a “Rasputin-like” character named Aleksander Dugin, who believes that Russia belongs at the center of a New World Order because of its innate superiority. Called “Eurasianism”, Dugin’s ideas are creepily similar to Hitler’s “super race” lunacy complete with a desire for worldwide domination. Putin’s other influence is an obscure Soviet-era ethnologist named Lev Gumilyov who believed in “passionarity” – a weird concept that Putin cited last year in a speech: “Russia has not reached its peak. We are on the march, on the march of development. … We have an infinite genetic code. It is based on the mixing of blood."
Even worse, Putin has fused church and state, as did Russia’s Czars, and enlisted Patriarch Kirill, the current head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to assist this war effort. The cleric recently described military service as a "manifestation of evangelical love for neighbors." This unseemly collaboration took on more importance when the Russian Orthodox Church lost supervisory control over the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in January 2019 following centuries of being in charge. Coincidentally, this occurred just before the election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Ukraine’s President, a liberal Ukrainian of Jewish descent who was elected to rid the country of corruption and Russian influence. It was the first unrigged election since independence in 1991.
This is a war conducted in the name of Russian glory and God. Charged with “divine” entitlement, Putin will continue to bomb until he conquers the Black Sea coastline and all of the resource-rich Donbas and then some.
Thank you Diane. The papers, books and articles I have been reading have shown me the same. One can hear Dugin in every speech that Putin has given since the war's inception; likewise, when Medvedev spoke of "unleashing the Four Riders of the Apocalypse", you are listening to Dugin; when you hear threats of the use of nuclear weapons, you are hearing him as well ("if Russia loses the war, the majority of mankind will be annihilated", ) or the Russian TV pundits explaining that the bombings of Ukraine's infrastructure are "fueled by holy hatred." Etc. I had no idea what was brewing over there until this war. Major media repeats none of these things.
Churchill is often credited with the aphorism 'democracy is the worst political system; the only thing worse are all the others'. At last count, there are now only 23 functional democracies in the world, and those of us privileged to live in one of them can see how difficult a flower it is to keep healthy. The European Union struggles to contain the autocratic leanings of some of its countries' leaders, but seems to have adopted a long-term approach that believes that democracy will eventually prove itself superior to all the others. It is a bumpy road, and by no means certain of success.
Democratic elections are important, but people in backward countries will elect backward, illiberal leaders. Protection of individual rights, such as free speech, is more important. America’s greatest asset is the extent to which the ideas in the Declaration of Independence still have some implementation in today’s society.
What does protecting individual rights as a higher priority than democratic elections look like? I'm trying to picture what you're saying.
You should certainly have both. What I’m saying is that many people think it’s democracy that makes the West exceptional, which has led to strange ideas like that if we just bring elections to backward countries then they will become civilized. The point is that if one wants to champion the West or to rediscover its “mojo”, it’s crucial to know what made the West great in the first place. The Statue of Liberty is not primarily about democracy but about liberty, i.e., the inalienable rights of man.
Individual rights are a deeply philosophical concept and therefore can serve as the framework for an entire society. Democratic elections, while important, are a much narrower concept relating to one aspect of the government.
This is a good and thoughtful article. Thank you for posting it here.
"why on earth did Russia’s president—long seen as a savvy operator— launch a military campaign that almost everyone, from think-tankers in Moscow to regular Russian grunts, could have told him would fail?" The same could be asked of democratic leaders about Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam...
"But as it has, his thinking has become both delusional and lazy, in part because he’s surrounded himself with yes-men, in part because he’s limited the flow of accurate information to his office, and in part because he’s ensured that no one can challenge him." Does this not describe our current Prime Minister to a T. (with the proviso that he also has yes-women)?
This is essentially the argument set out by Karl Popper in 1945 in his magnificent work The Open Society and it’s Enemies. Popper considered the electoral process to be “mere questions of personnel” and that the emphasis of democracy must be strong institutions that allow control of elected representatives but more importantly term limits and procedures for removal from office.