Global Security and Intelligence Studies
and political parties that are skeptical of global and regional institutions such as the UN , NATO , the IMF , and the EU , regardless whether they are on the political right or left . One could argue that this could be part of Dugin ’ s plan of the “ Finlandization of all Europe ,” meaning to bring Europe under Russian influence by undermining U . S . influence ( Dunlop 2004 ).
Nationalist movements in Europe and North America have greatly benefitted from the migration crisis of 2015 , which brought over a million migrants from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe . Russian propaganda has emphasized the dangers of migrants from Islamic states to the security and culture of Europe , which is in line with its concept of a civilizational conflict and which resonated well with larger portions of populations in Western Europe . Arguably , the migration crisis has enabled the rise of populist / nationalist leaders and of Brexit . The Russian government and Dugin have been aggressively establishing contacts with far-right groups and far-right leaders in Europe from France ’ s National Front to Austria ’ s FPÖ , Britain ’ s UKIP , Denmark ’ s Danish People Party , Hungary ’ s Jobbik , and Greece ’ s Golden Dawn Party ( Polyakova 2014 , 36 – 37 ). Relations between Europe and the United States have worsened substantially after the entirely unexpected election of Donald Trump in 2016 . President Trump has antagonized European leaders by ending negotiations for TTIP , by demanding more NATO burden-sharing , and by unilaterally cancelling the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal , among other things .
Recently , Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that globalism “ is losing its attractiveness and is no more viewed as a perfect model for all . Moreover , many people in the very western countries are skeptical about it ” ( Lavrov 2019 ). A recent opinion poll by IPSOS and King ’ s College London , covering 17,000 adults in 24 countries , indicates that Russia is not far behind the United States in terms of its global reputation . While 18 % see the United States as an influence for good and 22 % see it as an influence for bad in the world , 13 % see Russia as an influence for good , and 25 % see it as an influence for bad in the world ( IPSOS 2019 ). Russia ’ s ideological vision of a multipolar world that would end U . S . global hegemony and would potentially push the United States out of Europe has become acceptable to a greater number of people in the West , both on the political right and on the left , which does not suggest that Russia would be promoting fascism or that only fascists would be receptive to Russian ideology or Russian viewpoints .
Collectivism and State Capitalism
Russian ideology rejects pluralism and liberal democracy and instead offers authoritarian collectivism and state capitalism as an alternative societal model . Collectivism means that the needs of the collective are more important than the needs or rights of individuals . Dugin states it bluntly as : “[ t ] he nation is everything ; the individual is nothing ” ( Dunlop 2004 ). A modern form of collectivism is called statism , which is the idea that the state should be in control of the economy and
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