Is Putin Influenced by Russian Fascists? Cold War DOCUMENTARY

Our historical documentary series on the history of the post-Cold War continues with a video in which we ask if Russian president Putin is influenced by the Russian fascists like Dugin and Ilyin.
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#coldwar #Russia #Putin

[@kchall5]

Ideologies, at least for aspiring autocrats, are basically little more than marketing tools. Once the "sale" is made, everything transitions to "how can I maintain my grip on power without being violently terminated?"

[@hyperion3145]

That goes for most regimes, they don't need to be autocratic. Oligarchies are prone to this and democratic candidates will absolutely do this if terms are perceived to be too short or elections are too frequent, meaning they are more motivated in keeping power than fulfilling ideologies.

[@chrisroberts6089]

That’s not always true. Stephen Kotkin’s biographies and lectures on Stalin are fascinating because they show that the guy was a true-believing communist constantly preoccupied with ideology. A lot of times it’s both belief in ideology and ambition/power lust with autocrats.

[@dr.victorvs]

Sorta, but many of them also "get high on their own supply". I'd say their ideology becomes infinitely flexible in name of selfpreservation, but they are still motivated by (a more selfserving version of) the ideology they profess.

[@andrewmartineau5445]

I would like to see a video on Belarus and Alexander Lukashenko with a focus on his relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin.

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Dugin is seemingly more popular in the West than in Russia

[@clibanarius3122]

Not exactly. His ideas are respread by quite a lot of ideologists of SDD (umbrella for all the militant/paramilitary factions) movement. Such as Borodai, Gubarev, Bezler, Zhuchkovskiy and hundreds of smaller ones. Maybe his name is not that well known as his ideas of hate.

[@darkhobo]

It is required reading for officers in the Russian armed forces. The Russian Elite read Dugin. The average Russian doesnt. The west reads it because they want insight to better guess future Russian actions, since they clearly follow Dugins model. To not would be as stupid as believing Hitler wouldnt invade the USSR. He said he would in his writing. He did.

[@glif1360]

Among the general Russian population, he is virtually unknown. However, he was invited to give a first speech at the state-funded Petersburg economic forum this year. So Kremlin at the very least aware of his ideas.

[@erikthehalfabee6234]

People love to offer contrarian opinions don't they? I wonder then why they tried to assassinate him if he's such a marginal figure

[@TheRezro]

Dugin is more an available source of many Kremloid ideas for West, rather creator of them. For Russians themselves he is derivative, with mentioned Ilin being more relevant. BTW, not many people know, but Ayn Rand (Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum) was also a vatnik.

[@Kabutoes]

Well there is Dimitri Utkin and his famous tattoos, but I don’t know how much Wagner really influences the Russian govt given the recent events

[@TankswillRule]

The only reason Putin got rid of them is because they had enough and rebelled. Not because Putin is a saint lol

[@KappaClauss]

God forbid you ever see a tattoo of Ukrainian soldiers

[@dirt-kw7cy]

@@KappaClauss Nice pivot

[@dirt-kw7cy]

@@KappaClauss stay on one topic skyrim npc

[@mg4361]

Fascist - no. Cynical mafioso willing to co-opt any ideology or movement when useful, without much regard for logical consistency - yes.

[@r.j.lombardi111]

This!

[@TheEvilmonkey25]

If you knew anything about western facism you would realize A facist and a Mafioso are not different at all, in fact Facism can be seen as a mafia-style government. Also Puting is very consistant in his ideologies and not at al a pragmatic leader. Otherwise he would have never attacked ukraine in the first place as it is not a rational leadership decision for russia. Putin is a facist by any accepted modern definition.

[@christopherconard2831]

Most of the leaders, both public and private, don't seem too attached to any ideology. Close enough will do so long as they get to keep their cash and toys.

[@Silver_Prussian]

Putin is above ideology, he is simply pragmatic.

[@VladTevez]

As a Cypriot I can safely write that Cyprus does indeed demonstrate Western hipocrisy, however, this does not give to Putin the right to do the same

[@manuelapollo7988]

There is no hypocrisy. Turkey is a NATO country, Cyprus is not. It is sad but it's the truth. To go to war against Turkey, a NATO country, to support a non NATO country, would undermine the existence and effectiveness of the alliance. The day after, you will have Russia invading the baltics and China invading Taiwan and shit happening wherever. And again, I am philoellenic and I would love to see Cyprus reunified, but we have to be realistic if we want to keep the World afloat. You can call it hypocrisy, I call it responsibility towards agreements and treaties signed and words given. The west would be much more hypocritical in breaching the treaties signed and the words given, behaving like a random Putin

[@VladTevez]

@@manuelapollo7988 Tell to the relatives of the refugees and all those who lost their families about responsibility and you will create more tankies. If all that is needed for the world to be kept afloat is to justify turkish expansionism, then the world is not worth of be kept afloat

[@firstcynic92]

Do you think NATO should invade and start fighting another NATO member?

[@doctorshloopenstein1269]

​@@manuelapollo7988I mean to be fair, many call for Turkey to be removed from NATO and for good reason.

[@manuelapollo7988]

@doctorshloopenstein1269 I am wondering what they are waiting for...unfortunately the strategic position of Turkey, controlling the access to the Black Sea, makes it too much of a strategic ally for NATO. So I think it will never happen, but I will be glad if I will be proven wrong in future. Let's see

[@Xenin7]

Will we see the continuation of the Prague Spring episode?

[@JGT27]

I would love to see a deep dive about Solzenicyn from you, not much is spoken about his right-wing political beliefs

[@AgusSimoncelli]

They talked about him already, but said basically nothing about him being a pro tsar reactionary

[@Silver_Prussian]

He was based thats all that there is to it.

[@eruno_]

Solzhenitsyn always maintained that Ukrainians aren't a real nation

[@firstcynic92]

Was this made before Yevgeny Prigozhin -was assassinated- died in an "accident" when his plane -was shot down- had engine failure?

[@VusCZ]

Solid video analysis!

[@hypixal1512]

How did I not know about this other Jem of a channel

[@RFLCPTR]

The voice over seems to be out of sync with the presentation

[@bigsarge2085]

Intriguing.

[@HVACSoldier]

What’s with the pixelization of some images?

[@131scavy]

Some images have to be pixelated to prevent demonetization and flagging of video content on KZbin, it's the compromise of wanting to use the actual footage/photos but the platform having content posting rules.

[@UkraineDroneForces]

Finally some made a video explaining the origins of rashism - russian fascism.

[@interitvm]

Putin’s Russia is not fascist. A former communist, turned moderately religious and socially conservative. He’s really more like an authoritarian plutocratic state/crony capitalist. He is not in favor of a classically liberal economy. He is a democrat in so far as he allows voting, and some degree of controlled ‘opposition’. But only as long as he can continue to manipulate the situation to where he always wins ~ unless or until he no longer wants to win and wants instead to install a chosen and groomed successor. Putin obviously supports a form of interventionist state/crony capitalism. State-owned enterprises are abundant in Russia. But interventionism is not always corporatist, because the corporations included a syndicalist and labor component which is completely absent in Putin’s government. On the other hand, anti-communism is opposed by Putin, who constantly supports the Soviet legacy, including the remains of Stalinism. If he was a fascist, he would ban all the parties except his own (United Russia), implement more radical economic policies (a national-syndicalist economic approach) and surely have a different view of nationalism. He and his party lack revolutionary fervor (which are essential for a fascist state) and are not capable even of a decidedly reactionary regression. Russia is not a one-party state, it holds multi-party legislative elections, presidential elections, gubernatorial elections, and regional elections. Sure, it might not be as pluralistic as other multi-party countries, such as Germany or Britain, but nonetheless, there is still a functioning multi-party system. Additionally, Russia is not totalitarian, it is simply authoritarian. Vladimir Putin himself disavowed totalitarianism, stating in 2005: “Any kind of turn towards totalitarianism for Russia would be impossible, due to the condition of the Russian society”. Vladimir Putin has never mentioned that he takes philosophic inspiration from the works of Giovanni Gentile, Benito Mussolini, or Adolf Hitler, nor is there any indication of such a thing. Putin has never declared the state to be all-embracing or primary, nor has he ever proclaimed that the state is simply a tool which must serve the preservation and promotion of a given ethnic group. People who say that (Russia is fascist) I feel like they are just using the word for hyperbole and shock value. “Russia is authoritarian, fascism is authoritarian, therefore, Russia is fascist” and ignore the history and philosophy of the word. In conclusion, Putin’s Russia is a post-Soviet authoritarian oligarchy rather than a fascist state of any kind.

[@Jl-lq5en]

You are largelly correct but the new Russian Constitution specifies that Ethnic Russians are the states founding people and are to be respected and forbids laws or demographic changes that impede the states founding people and their special relationship. The constitution also then goes on to say Jews, Tatars, and other national minorities also belong and are afforded protection by law and that in addition to Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam and Buddhisim are nationally recognized and legally protected religions. So there is an ethno nationalist component to Russia and this is noted by the comments of many of the Russian elite however it is not an extreme form of nationalism like Nazism which seeked to genocide all non Aryans. Russian ethnic nationalism is tolerant with the existing national minorities within Russia but would theoretically have an issue if they grew to become the majority. Also a thing to consider is the Soviet Union was dominated by Ethnic Slavs and Russians were the ideal caste within the Soviet racial de facto caste system. The USSR follow scientific racism but it was never an extreme form like Nazism or British Anglo supremacy. Russian racists always made use of and tolerated Turkic and Asian groups noting their IQ contributions. Dugin himself paints himself as not racist but if you read his writings in Russian he is and regards Slavs as the spiritually superior people of earth along side Jews and Persians. He goes on to say he is a fan of Jewish Kabbalah and orthodoxy and Shiite Islamic Persian infused culture. Finally he says that the greater Eurasian Union will realize the age old destiny and quest for Dublin to Vladivostok to be ruled by Slavs. Dugin has even said anti white stuff but about white westerners. It is safe to say he is not a pure or total white nationalist on the basis he dislikes White Anglos and feels they are intellectually and spiritually inferior. However he regards Eastern European Whites as superior

[@mint8648]

Best comment here

[@didisjsn]

​@@mint8648hi from Russia. Your comment is completely true and better describes topic than video.

[@yumallah]

As a Russian I salute you, you're one of the few Westerners I've seen with an actually realistic view of Russia and how it functions. You're mostly correct. One minor detail, I wouldn't call Russia an oligarchy at this point, because oligarchs are supposed to be rich people that are able to influence decision making at the top government level and use the state to lobby their interests. There are simply no such people in Russia, no one is able to influence Russia, quite the contrary, it's Putin who holds the leash of the rich people and allows them to maintain their wealth, if they dare get out of control they will succumb to the fates of such former oligarchs as Khodorkovsky and Berezovsky.

[@skeletor3703]

Yes for years now.

[@abc-coleaks-info3180]

I watched the video and enjoy the channel but I got lost damn quick in the isms and since I’m dyslexic if there are more then two points on the compass you are handing me, I’m staying right where I am.

[@eruno_]

On Russian state TV they literally casually talk about restoring an "empire" it's honestly insane

[@christopherconard2831]

Well, at least this time around they admit it's a Russian empire they want. Despite the USSR being portrayed as a group of equal socialist states, (Remembering that some are more equal than others.) it was always the Russian Empire.

[@IdleWorker]

@@christopherconard2831 Yap, communism in russia fell shortly after the revolution when lenin overthrew the election he lost to the more agrarian socialist party.

[@Silver_Prussian]

You lost credibility when you said ,,it honestly insane" ususally when people use such phrasing they overreacting in the most hystericla way possible

[@eruno_]

@@Silver_Prussian It's honestly insane because no normal country would have public personalities like Solovyov on national broadcaster during prime time raving about restoration of imperial "glory" and taking "what's historically been ours". It is insane and that's a fact.

[@Silver_Prussian]

@@eruno_ let me tell you are soviet joke A soviet and american spy meet at a cafe, they sit down and the soviet spy begins to describe soviet propaganda to the american, both men laugh at how silly it is. Then the soviet man ask the american: ,,Well comrade, tell me about your nations propaganda" The american furiously stands up and states: ,,We have no such thing as propaganda !" So wich late night talk show host or early morning talk show host in any western country do you want me to list propagandists. The list would become very long if I have to include all of the cited experts about every topic they have ever talked about. Btw I see nothing wrong with basic sense of pride or calling for the restoration of the empire with its monarchy which would be historical justice.

[@jan5456]

Can you make a video about Orania next

[@TimesFM4532]

Mean once you go so far one way or another it stops meaning anything and just becomes madness

[@GaBolMMI]

Saw the Kings and Generals video :D

[@ChrisWRR]

The background music really takes away from this. The information is great though.

[@youtubeuser8232]

I completely agree: excellent content but very annoying and loud music!!

[@VusCZ]

Tankies ignoring the video and coping in the comments with whataboutisms and lies are really funny and sad at the same time. It wont help them though.

[@pokeybit]

They all seem to have numbers in their names.

[@bongo351]

​@@pokeybitYou'd think they'd tried to be more convincing bots, they've kind of lost their touch

[@mopspear]

@@bongo351 HEY! HE'S GOT NUMBERS IN HIS NAME

[@pokeybit]

@@mopspear maybe not all users with numbers in their names are Russian bots but all Russian bots seem to have numbers in their name. 🤷‍♀️

[@MithunOnTheNet]

@@pokeybit That's how bot accounts are programmatically created.

[@nigeh5326]

Interesting look at the right in Russia. A couple of minor quibbles though. 1. It seems like David’s narration is slightly ahead of the images. And 2. A shame you don’t spell Tzar instead of Czar. As I understand it from a basic Russian course I took years ago, is closer to the Russian pronunciation. T’ (as in the t of tea) zar It’s hard to type it out. Happy to be corrected by Носители русского языка though. Спасибо

[@fyang1429]

How can you claim that they don't have influence over the population? While surely a significant portion of the people would not support these, you only have to look to places like China to see how such ideologies can spread far and wide.

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

I'm almost certain he was just trying to be nice.

[@forenamesurname1183]

now do the same on the biden

[@shanebrown2009]

Biden has no beliefs other than who he can shake down for money.

[@boomboy4399]

Biden isn't a fascist nor influenced by fascist in fact Biden is hated by fascist and fascist love Putin

[@johnhasty3411]

I knew earlier into this video that I would need to watch this more than once… interesting explanation of Russia!

[@ashleybennett4418]

He's a bonapartist because he's short

[@dr.victorvs]

Weird to see something being a blend of fascism and Stalinism given that the latter is already--in very simplified terms--a blend of fascism and Leninism.

[@johnny1893]

Bro... The guy is a fascist from the begining!

[@wuthichaiauomsin6237]

actually national bolshevik party was anti-everthing punk movement in the '90. their member include muslim who inspired call of duty villian. dugin leave in 1996 and the party enter into anti-goverment period until 2013 and limonov become dugin 2.0.

[@mpbomber1491]

Okay thats a really great vid about Putins worldview. He aint a Commie like many Fash would say nor he is a Fash like many Commies would say... he is a weird mixture of both... on the other side also not mhmm

[@bernardkealey6449]

Thanks a ton for this David. I knew bits of this, but not the full context of the Wagnerian array of historical actors and contextual backgrounds. This is a great resource.

[@andyreznick]

Excellent writing and delivery. Thanks, David.

[@Divine_Evil]

Tl:dw yes !

[@ZoranZoltanous]

The closest influence he has to fascism is Ivan Ilyin who despite being a collaborator was more of a Tsarist restorationist.

[@edospiritcrusher]

I disagree. His regime has all the characteristics of Italian Fascism: Putin is a strong leader with a small, loyal inner circle who has strong ties with the church and the major capitalists in the country; he became president in a situation that was similar (actually worst in economical terms) to 1922 Italy, and thanks to the fact that he managed to improve a situation that couldn't get any worse, he created a cult of personality throughout the years that made him liked at home as well as in the West; he helds control of the majority of mainstream media, he eliminated his political adversaries with the use of force and incarceration, and he strengthened the military with the goal of getting Russia back where it belongs. If this isn't a copycat of Mussolini's Fascism, I don't know what it is.

[@ZoranZoltanous]

@@edospiritcrusher In terms of ideological positioning, he exhibits similarities to a non-ideological right-wing Bonapartism, drawing closer to that political framework. Unlike Mussolini, whose ideology was deeply rooted in Giovanni Gentile's Actualism and encompassed corporatism (not in the sense of private corporations, but rather syndicates/guilds) for economic control, his approach aligns more with the developmental economy observed in socialist nations like the Soviet Union during the New Economic Policy era or modern-day China, as described by A. James Gregor. It's important to note that conservatism, as traditionally understood, did not hold significant influence in Italy. Rather, the prevalent concept was reactionary modernism, which represents an alternative form of modernity that recontextualizes and subordinates traditions. For instance, Mussolini's party included a significant number of feminists and even Futurists, illustrating its fundamentally modernist nature and negating its classification as conservative. This observation has been underscored by scholars such as Roger Griffin. Additionally, Augusto Del Noce has pointed out that Gentile's philosophy is considered heretical when compared to Catholic Christianity due to its emphasis on humanism. In this context, humanism refers to a worldview centered around humanity, bearing striking similarities to Marxism or Jacobin Liberalism. In contrast, Putin lacks these aforementioned characteristics and, most significantly, the essential elements of a national rebirth, which can only be achieved through a thorough societal purge, as seen with the Nazis. Consequently, his governance lacks the palogenetic orientation necessary for such a transformation to occur.

[@darkhobo]

Dugin is required reading for Russian Military officers.

[@gghost1224]

Zolt, him being a Tsarist just makes him a monarcho-fascist, Ilyin openly advocated for a national socialist and fascist regime in Russia.

[@boomboy4399]

yes

[@lemokemo5752]

The video is out of sync

[@pdd60absorbed12]

"Holy Rus" lmao.

[@ulfosterberg9116]

Nearly all have these lookalike svastikas in their banners. Russia is also paying for a lot of political organizations with these svastikas in Europe and US.

[@mopspear]

Being American and watching the national news over the last few years, I literally can't see the "F" word (not that one) or the Far "R" word without knowing if anyone is actually using them correctly anymore. I assume you are and the video is interesting, but it makes me second-guess everyone.

[@christopherconard2831]

I've been referred to as a (WWII bad guy) so many times the word has lost all meaning to me outside of historical references. Mostly I treat it as a sign I'm dealing with a political ideologue incapable of rational conversation.

[@EricChipko]

A lot of unfamiliar -ism's.

[@RealWatch1]

non ideological but will do anything for power and restoing the country into a superpower. that's what i got. which makes sense how there are far right and far left toleration in that country. as long as power can be gained, theyll be tolerated and used.

[@TheEvilmonkey25]

Nah Putin is very much an idealogue and he doesn't hide his influences at all. If he was just lusting after power he wouldn't have talken ukraine (because the ideaql strategy for russia would be to profit from both the western and eastern economic blocks)

[@RedRosa]

Good stuff. Would love to hear more about the different currents as some seem to be part of ongoing influence operations in the West such as NazBols and RIM which were both at the big stop the war rally. A lot of the Russia/China/Syria/NK aligned "left" cosplayers seem to be influenced by the NazBol movement and/or some kind of Duganism.

[@leowilliamson1573]

I can't recall the journalist who said it, but when people bring up Dugin, I always think, "If Dugin had the sway over Putin Westerners think he has, Russia would already be a crater."

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Although I know it is a thing in many ex eastern block places I never understood how you can be a nationalist AND Bolshevik at the same since we are talking about two completely different belive systems

[@joesalyers]

What? Have you read the book by a guy named Stalin called "Marxism and the National Question"? Which is just a repeat of a previous Marxist thinker Otto Bauer from Austria. Lenin praised Mussolini because Lenin understood that Italian Fascism was an outgrowth of Marxism. Modern Russia and China are 2 very similar outgrowths of 20th century communist indoctrination of the inteligencia the biggest difference is the Chinese have the veneer of still being Marxist while the Russians do not need to use the label.

[@nigeh5326]

Stalin created the idea of Socialism in one country, he’s to blame 😊

[@hgkghkhgkgh8378]

It's almost like the rest of the world doesn't work like how American sociologist envisioned it.

[@TNOBasedBatov]

@@nigeh5326 o7 You’re a brave soldier for sacrificing your notifications to the tankies

[@L1vv4n]

Disconnection of soviet propaganda and appearances from the actual day-to-day reality created a culture of high level of solipsism and disconnection between ideas. "Thinking one thing, saying another while doing third thing". After SU dissolution this culture was propagated and used by media for commercial and political advertisement and later adopted by Putin's political technologists and propaganda. This allows some people to adopt incredibly incoherent worldviews. They don't think there needs to be a cohesion and when you are talking about it would look at you with confusion like you are saying that fork is needed to drink tea.

[@youngimperialistmkii]

Interesting analysis.

[@estebanmunoz7486]

I want the same doc but about Ukraine

[@TheEvilmonkey25]

You want to compare a man to a country?

[@estebanmunoz7486]

@@TheEvilmonkey25 Yes... absolutely... the country and his leader too.

[@Free_Russian]

I'm Russian who moved to Ukraine and still wait when scary Ukrainian Nazis eat me alive. Seriously, Ukrainians are the most welcoming people I met, for any nation or race. Modern Russia is 100% fascist, here I agree with David

[@eruno_]

Ukraine politically seems to be dominated by neoliberal europhiles and centre - right conservatives ever since Revolution of Dignity. There exists marginal far-right groups as well, but their political influence is limited so far, especially as state apparatus with overwhelming support of population strives to integrate into Western especially European geopolitical framework for security, quality of life and economic benefits.

[@adamgroszkiewicz814]

Bold title. This will go well as a pregame torreading another chapter from Orlando Figes "The Story Of Russia"

[@r.j.lombardi111]

But not all monarchists are fascist... I'm not anyways... But yep... I'm from Austria-Hungary, not Russia.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Russia might not be completely fascist state now. But it might become one down the line.

[@sephoramandondo2548]

Only time will tell

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@sephoramandondo2548---True enough

[@sztallone415]

What is wrong the horseshoe theory?

[@guyguy7634]

Do a video on modern Russian communism and what state they are in

[@tommy5456]

russia isn't communist

[@Free_Russian]

​@@tommy5456Stalin Center where they worship the great leader is disagree with you, so as 80% of Russians who approves Stalinism

[@jack8805]

supressed

[@guyguy7634]

@@tommy5456 I know but I just want to see what post-Soviet communism in Russia is like

[@Szydencer]

We should really start saying "the noughties" instead of "the tootauzyns".

[@anandhuradhakrishnan4454]

🔥🔥🔥

[@caseyjones1999]

Great video. Please 🙏 consider using less "swoshing sound effects " in the editing. It really takes away from the content distracting etc

[@TheMrFu]

ah yes this is really content about the cold war

[@erikthehalfabee6234]

The cold War continues

[@Seouldrift7]

To be honest don't really see any of the influences to be right wing or conservative.

[@blenderbanana]

Why is it that the west is full of Professional class U.S.S.R immigrants, but in general Westeners have never migrated en-masse to Russia? Tankies??

[@TankswillRule]

And the ones who did went to russia, for a huge pay check by Putin. Like Steven Seagal

[@jacobedward2401]

Not a fan of the USSR, but educated people have had more economic opportunities in the West since before the soviet revolution.

[@Free_Russian]

There are lots of interesting stories of Westerns who was fooled by Soviet propaganda and accepted their invitation and citizenship, mostly with tragic consequences. I with David make a video on this subject (even this process started long before the Cold War)

[@josecipriano3048]

Only children use that word. Given that western powers couldn't stop until they destroyed the economy of Russia, I wonder why would any Russian stay in Russia.

[@josecipriano3048]

​@@Free_Russianthere are lots of interesting stories about Soviet citizens who believed that life was easy in the West because they could drink Coca-Cola and had fifty-eight brands of detergent. Only to find out that they hadn't been told by Radio Free Europe and others like it, was that you have to pay for your healthcare, your education is poor if you're not rich and you're always under threat of unemployment because the rich don't like paying fair wages. Go figure

[@thegamingirishman7349]

I wouldn't necessarily call the war unprovoked, but it's definitely debatable

[@stefanodadamo6809]

Each time they call it "unprovoked" it's a smoking pistol signaling the exact contrary. Putin will have to bear the historic guilt of having taken the bait.

[@danielbromwich1827]

It was provoked, by russia.

[@kadarrosa9926]

Probably your best video yet

[@GuyDownTheSt]

Yeah this is great! Even not agreeing it's interesting and love his content

[@jamesbarca7229]

Actual fascism hasn't existed for many years. I've yet to meet anyone who can give a meaningful definition of what fascism even is (and when they try it usually ends up being much closer to describing National Socialism than fascism). The word fascist is meaningless as a modern term except to mean "someone I disagree with politically". I dismiss anyone who uses the term except when discussing 20th century history. Fascism no longer exists except in peoples' imaginations.

[@kizzer14100]

I was writing an essay on right wing extremism in Russia for uni the other day. I could have done with this then :(

[@WillToTheSmith]

I really wish KZbin would differentiate between good historical content like this and anything malicious so it didn't have to be so heavily censored (Language/Visual wise)

[@trenchcoats4life891]

I almost forgot I was subscribed to this channel. I will need to go back and check videos I missed.

[@ZS-rw4qq]

He probably is. But I can't shake the feeling that this comes as a response to the scandal in the Canadian parliament

[@stefanodadamo6809]

18:48 Bonapartiste regime... As a Napoleon, he's a failure. Putin is, well, Putin.

[@mikeyang6003]

Maybe it's the other way around

[@boomboy4399]

bot

[@eruno_]

Ivan Ilyin and its consequences...

[@Game_Hero]

Oh oh, you have unleashed the rage of the russian trolls, what have you done? Now I need to grab popcorn to see the drama!

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

The title of this video is obviously admitting the Cold War continued right now, not stopped after the USSR collapsed

[@SamuelJamesNary]

But in a way, the "Cold War" DID stop. Much of what caused it was tension that evolved out of the fact that the Soviets took the spoils of WW2 and in the wake of the bloody fighting that had been the war on the Eastern Front had also seen Stalin heavily promoting revolution and his own interpretation of Communism as a means to secure Soviet stability. And all that only continued even after Stalin's death and Soviet leaders tried to refine how "the Revolution" was to spread. The collapse of the Soviet Union in the 80s and 90s brought about an end to that tension, as in that moment, it was thought and hoped that Russia would move toward liberal democracy and more market driven economy. I'm sure, there were also some that had the hope or idea that it might also lead to Russia joining NATO as the alliance reworks its own mission statement and thus would recreate the WW2 alliance, but this time without the underlying tension of Stalin's political stances. But many of the former Warsaw Pact states and Soviet Republics all had their own issues and growing pains... and even Yeltsin still saw Russia as a "major power" and thus saw Russia having the right to rule as such. And a lot of this has only accelerated over time as a result of how Putin has changed over time to suit his own needs for power. That has recreated the tension in the West as they see Putin's actions as aggressive, anti-democratic, and anti-capitalist in some way and has thus brought the old tensions back with a new face.

[@ComradeCatpurrnicus]

Great video

[@MMerlyn91]

17:17 And he's damn right about that. You can see that perfectly today when the West lets Azerbaijan to get away with the ethnic cleansing of Armenians on the basis that Artsakh is their territory. Well, if Artsakh is Azerbaijan, then Kosovo is Serbia, by that same international law. But no, the West claims to be about "international law" only when it suits them, when it doesn't, they drop that and just do whatever they want. That said, he's still not justified in annexing regions of independent countries, though, that was pretty dumb.

[@Bronxguyanese]

I don't think putin is a facist, he does follow fascist ideals and gets influenced by philosopher Alexander Dugin who created 4th way for Russia instead of relaying on liberalism communism and facism individually causing failure and by combinding othrodox Christianity with communism and facism. Like fascism Putin is critical of American or Anglo Saxon or western liberalism which puts emphasis on the individual and not in on the collective. Nazism and communism are also critical of liberalism and puts emphasis on the collective. Right now in our world plenty of people want to do away with liberalism externally (china russia Xi putin) and even internally within the Anglosphere like critical race theory which has a Marxian conflict theory and for some to dismantle united states. The world is getting scary again due to some want to do away with liberalism.

[@HVACSoldier]

I call it “Putinism.” Putin combines elements of Nazism, fascism, communism, etc. to form his ideology.

[@Vault96]

But from what I understand from the video, Dugin's influence is more geopolitical and not ideological. But in general I agree with you, and not only are Nazism and Communism anti liberal, so are traditionalism and traditional monarchism.

[@Bronxguyanese]

​​@@Vault96I see that with eurasianism that dugin supports which comes from Michael michander world island theory. The one that controls the world island controls the world instead atlantcist model which allowed western nations such as Portugal Spain Great Britain and the united states to dominate the globe with navies and control sea lanes.

[@max-cs9ko]

What’s your opinion about Nazi influence in current day Ukraine, I watched dozens of video regarding increasing nazism in Ukraine before this war, but this topic is suddenly disappeared after start of this war

[@Bronxguyanese]

@@max-cs9ko probably the American Anglo western view on the position that they do not view Ukrainians as nazis. Some Ukranian forces use nazi symbols but not ideologically nazis according to western Anglo news outlets.

[@JakeCole1453]

Waiting for the Canadian version of this.

[@boomboy4399]

How is Canada fascist

[@EugeneSavinov]

Do an episode on the right wing radicals of Ukraine as well

[@bennigan88]

“The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine” wow not off to a great start. I think I’ll pass on this

[@boomboy4399]

cry harder tankie

[@igorsmihailovs52]

I am very much satisfied to see a honest analysis without untimely emotions. I tend to have the same thoughts, yet I will disagree in two points about the Russian Church: 1) money largely flows FROM, not TO the Church with respect to diasporas, especially if we are talking about the self-governing local Churches that are parts of ROC. 2) Until very recently, the top of the Church was VERY lenient on dissidents, even regarding some political issues, such as the ongoing war. Only this summer was one cleric banned because of his open anti-war sentiment, and there were no repressions to those many clerics who signed the anti-war statement in Spring 2022. Of course, the vast majority of priests know too well that being too open to public outside of (or even within) the parish is only going to cause trouble, but I know for sure there are certain prominent dissidents in the Russian Church, some of which even get published occasionally in media not noticeable enough to attract State's attention. Really, until this summer I had a strong impression that the Church has more internal freedom of speech than any other big organization in Russia. And I really do follow the situation there.

[@mango2005]

We are seeing now that democracy is a lot more fragile than many thought. The next generation in Europe may not live as free citizens if this regime has its way.

[@josecipriano3048]

Booo the bogeyman strikes again! Democracy in Europe is a farce and it wasn't Putin who destroyed it.

[@giod6266]

Im actually planning to read about this Ivan Ilyin. My friend told me about him, he red about him. I know Dugin ofc and his f..king RuZZian fews, RuZZian geopolitics and so on. But didnt knew much about Iliyin. Anyway, good video, thanks!

[@alex4863]

My view of Putin is simply that he wants to restore Russian prestige in a indirect defensive view. When the USSR collapsed and Putin came to power I believe he tried to merge with the West at a balanced level. But when West snubbed due to NATO expansion and half hearted deals. He turned to anti-west at a pro Russian stance. This is going to be an interesting result with Ukraine.

[@eruno_]

I don't believe it, as a Lithuanian ever since post-Yeltsin I saw that Putin's circle and he himself seemed to treat Baltic states and whole of Eastern Europe as not equals but something to be in control off. How can one be pro-European and Russian chauvinist at the same time that doesn't recognise the agency of other neighbouring countries?

[@alex4863]

@@eruno_ that’s the whole point of Putin, essentially a non true political compass outside of Russian domination and restoring prestige. From my pov he wants a balance of Soviet might/ influence with Tzar territory/ influence. For the Baltic states like Lithuania you’re safe due to NATO protection, the worst case scenario I just annoyance from Russian influence. What I hate is the Western description that he’s Hitler 2.0 which is clearly false, if you believe he wants world dominance and or on a concurring spree is just flat wrong. Ukraine whole situation right now is due to orange revolution/Maidan revolt which ousted a Russian back government, ever since then they’ve been looking out for there security.

[@debater452]

If Countries want to join Nato they should have the right to join

[@lhpoetry]

Putin's Nationalism is deeply steeped in nostalgia. More than anything else, Nostalgia for everything and every time defines the programming on Russia1. Focusing on the past provides a sense of security, makes people feel seen/affirmed, and distracts from current problems. He affirms the Russian Empire, the Orthodox Church, the Russian diaspora, and the Soviet Union but all in context of "making Russia great again." And making sure Russia is respected. Which is a thing I think the video missed some: Putin's actions make a lot more sense seen through an Eurasian "honor" based mindset. This is one of the core differences that between Russia's somewhat Asian mentality and a Western one, in that respect (honor), the past, and stability are valued over rights, expression, and freedoms. Putin very strongly felt that the West wasn't giving Russia the respect it deserved as a global superpower; so many of Putin's actions make sense in this context. He was very upset by the expansion of NATO to protect Eastern European states formerly in Soviet orbit because those actions made him feel he was being treated as a threat and not a friend. US policy post-Cold war acted like the Cold War was still on, and looked to strategic partnerships in former Soviet countries as a welcome expansion of American/EU influence/soft trade empire, whether it was renting commandos to Central Asian governments for anti-drug and terror operations, the government loans and grants that corrupt and form dependency (see the last season of Servant of the People), or McDonald's, Lay's, and Coca-Cola taking over. Ukraine also didn't appreciate/honor their relationship and shared history, and was seen as betraying Russia and turning to the West, and whether that turn was democratic or not, the US State Dept was there holding the hand of the Ukrainian government through the transition. Putin defends his country's honor by bringing global status and internal stability...everyone remembers the 1990s and doesn't want to go back there. However, Putin's interventions in Crimea and Syria were Cold War-esque calculations based on acceptable losses (and previous Western inaction in Georgia). Syria was Russia's sole remaining Mediterranean port, and Crimea is the home of the Black Sea fleet. These moves are, in Putin's Cold War mindset, defensive moves to maintain the status quo, as you mentioned. So many of the leaders in the West and Russia, raised during the Cold War, are unable to get out of this competitive mindset. As for Lavrov's mention of Kosovo and Western Cyprus, one of Putin's general MOs has been frequently been one-upmanship that shows Western hypocrisy. When criticized for military actions in Syria, he could point to Iraq and Afghanistan and say "what are you talking about?" In the last 10 years, Putin has stopped playing the "nice" game that the West so often plays...pretending to be the white knights while deploying troops or proxies in other countries. (Like France who has had troops in half of North Africa in active conflicts in the last the ten years.) This bluntness in his moves to protect Russian interests has made him somewhat of a pariah, but also has kinda succeeded in some ways in unmasking Western hypocrisy, which matters to him because it's about respect and feeling disrespected.

[@usa1mac]

Can you do a video about how the Ukraine military appears to be filled with people that identify as fascist and like to wear fascist logos and flags? I see this reported in some fringe areas and I'd like to see if it is true. The legacy media cannot be trusted to report on this either.

[@TheEvilmonkey25]

Naked whataboutism. Ukraione has no leader comparable with putin in regards to facism and authoritarism. Also Ukraine is the eastern european country with the lowest rates of antisemitism, contrary to Russia which has it much more than the (already terrible) avarage for the reason. Ukraine has a long way to go to eliminate facists form their society, as your country problably has too.

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Well, you can easily google the Russian Nazis in the Russian Army. Milchakov, Petrovsky and other members of so called DShRG "Russich" and dozens of divisions of the same kind openly professing the genocide of Ukrainians. You can even see them appear as guests on Russia Today

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

@@COMBLOCVZ58 Hunka's incident is Candaian f*k up and have nothing to do with modern-day Ukraine

[@darrinscott6612]

Illia Ponomarenko, a Ukrainian journalist, wrote an article about this to explain the situation to us foreigners. The short explanation is that that, yes, there is a minority of Ukrainian military personnel who sport far right symbology. Some do it as a 'reactionary' thing-- a gesture of defiance against all things Russian, including their claims in WWII. Others do it because they're Wehraboos and imagine the Nazi war machine as efficient and powerful, something which they want to emulate. Others still genuinely hold far right worldviews. Extremists, be they fascists, communists, or whatever, tend to be the most militant groups, so will often be the first to take up arms against any shared enemy. It is unfortunate but the sad reality is that Ukraine, like other Eastern European countries, does have a notable minority of far right individuals. However, the context is important. For one, far right parties in Ukraine secured on 2.15% of the vote, earning only 1/450 seats in governance. In other words, far right politics are very unpopular. The existence of military personnel who sport far right symbols no more delegitimizes Ukraine's cause than the Allies in WWII including the Soviets delegitimizes the need for Hitler and Japan to be stopped.

[@bikkiikun]

The world seems to always ignore the fact, that Russia still holds on to most of its Colonial possessions (basically everything East of the Urals, South of Kazan (including Kazan) and North and West of St. Petersburg. And while many of those Colonies have nominal independence, Russia meddles in their affairs far more comprehensively than the Britishers and France in Africa. Through Genocide of local populations and settlement of ethnic Russians, Russia has ensured that, while being able to mask it as "defending Russians". By the way, the same applies to another hypocrit, that loves to talk about "western imperialism"... China, whose whole western half and most of its northern territories are nothing but Colonies. Mind you, just because a Colony is "next door", doesn't make it any less a colony. And "Western hypocrisy" is no worse that the hypocrisy of those states.

[@petrjerabek2063]

That is an unreasonable standard for countries to hold. Pursuing it would require most people living in the Americas to leave. The territory of the USA would be left with just few tens of thousands inhabitants. Australia would be almost uninhabited. If the local communities in Russia do want independence as they did in Chechnya that’s okay, but otherwise Russia and China do a better job governing the colonized peoples and giving them more recognition and sometimes power than the better known colonizing nations such as the UK, France or the USA.

[@bikkiikun]

@@petrjerabek2063: First and foremost, I'm pointing out a clear double-standard which itself has severe consequences to the discourse surrounding Imperialism and Colonial Rule. That double-standard is essentially what empowers serial aggressors, such as Russia and China. (and please spare me the what-about-isms concerning the oh so "evil west"... the bad deeds of one, don't excuse the bad deeds of another) It should not be forgotten that Stalin and Mao, each, have significantly higher "body counts" than ol' Hitler, who is the "Gold Standard of Evil" (simply because his destruction was far wider spread and far more visible to the world). And no, this doesn't excuse what Hitler did... Secondly, and as a counter point to your chain of arguments, I don't think it's an unreasonable standard... even if we recognise territorial lines as they existed at some point in time and the changes based on fair treaties. The most important point of this is not to reverse centuries of violent history (which would only beget more violence), but to recognise the facts of the matter, the atrocities, their consequences and endeavour to "set things right" with the natives of these lands, who are still at the bottom of the social and economic ladders, all over the world. And lastly, your claim that these peoples being better off under their current overlordship is quite ignorant and chauvinistic (or racist... you choose). As mentioned above, these native peoples are almost always at the bottom of the social and economic ladders, so they reap no benefits from this foreign hegemony. Even worse, most of them are subjected to a slow moving genocide, becoming minorities in their own lands, with their languages and cultures being gradually erased.

[@Sammyfarel]

france and the british have far more control in africa than the kremlin have in russian region. while the russian influenced the region. france and british influence destroy and openly taking the recources of african country

[@TimesFM4532]

@@petrjerabek2063you’ve heard of the Chechnya war or the genocide in eastern China/ supresstion of Tibet

[@stephanedimitrieff2448]

Que dire des américains qui sont responsables de la mort de millions d'indiens et de l'ingérence de ce pays toxique dans tout les pays du monde avec les révolutions de couleurs L'impérialisme américains est devenu le plus dangereux, le plus néfaste qui existe même la Russie reste un petit joueur face à eux. Irak, Libye, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela et j'en passe.... Kiev et les azov sont le symbole même du fascisme et le montre sans aucun scrupule avec l'appui de Washington ! Honte !! Honte !!

[@masterqui-gonjinn90]

bolsheviks were leftists ?

[@figofigo7908]

Yes

[@enduser8410]

Before even watching the video, I would infer yes. Not even considering the Ukraine war, but the interesting Russian strain of socialism that large portions of Eastern Europe were dominated by for half a century, with its superficial touting of racial harmony and international cooperation still ending up creating some of the most right-wing bordering on fascist parts of the Western world now. Of course they will deflect and blame the West, but no one seems to consider that the places they call fascist hotspots (Ukraine, the Baltics) were ruled by them. East Germany is another example but since the AfD serves Russian purposes as a political threat, they remain silent. Then there was the overt media support for certain Euroskeptics/borderline fascists like Le Pen, Wilders, Farage by Russian overseas media.

[@RedRosa]

"Socialism" as spread by the USSR ended up being Russian imperialism with some red paint. It was a very conservative political system bordering on fascism. This can be seen in today's China as well which is a form of authoritarian capitalism.

[@KonradAdenauerJr]

Putin's kleptocracy has an opportunistic character, similar to a mafia family. Its ideological underpinnings may be ambiguous (which suits Putin fine), but Russia also boasts Europe's largest neo-Nazi presence.

[@neoesm]

Where does Ukraine fall in terms of neo-Nazi presence?

[@KonradAdenauerJr]

@@neoesm In the most recent Ukrainian elections, the extreme right received only 2% of the vote. They needed 5% just to get one seat in the parliament (Rada).

[@josecipriano3048]

​@@KonradAdenauerJrwhich percentage of votes did the extreme right receive in the latest Russian elections?

[@KonradAdenauerJr]

@@josecipriano3048 Excluding Putin's United Russia party, slightly over 7%, with seats in the Duma.

[@Alex-lg6nz]

Someone who's hero is Konrad Adenauer has the nerve to accuse Russians of being biggest Nazis in Europe... Takes someone without a particle of honor or dignity, obviously incapable of even simulating decency, to attempt this kind of slander. Just disgusting.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

3:34 if, as it is correctly pointed out, the Soviet Union was a great break with previous Russian history, why nationalist Ukrainian rhetoric is then constantly pushed and fed to the Western public to tell the contrary, making the USSR a purely Russian affair (it wasn't) and Ukrainians only the innocent victims (many were, many others weren't) of a Muscovite plot to destroy the nation, whose very existence the USSR had affirmed?

[@len2063]

Nationalism and Imperialist

[@ThePooba26]

wow there are a lot of bots in the comments

[@AnnedolfFrankler911]

No, he is not. Simple as that. He is only influenced by the will of the Russian people.

[@Africarespecter]

“Unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine” ? Cmon man you’re too smart to actually believe that

[@boomboy4399]

It was Unprovoked

[@Vegnarr]

Best video explaining Russia Politics.

[@metricstormtrooper]

Influenced by fascism? he's currently write another chapter in the handbook.

[@Silver_Prussian]

1:24 ahh yes man just happens to be able telepathically connect to the subconciousness of more than 146 million people and tell exactly what they think about the current conflict.

[@John_Pace]

Misunderstanding. That is at the root of the problem. In early 1990, Washington thought that Moscow would become another loyal ally (for Washington, you are either with us or with the terrorist), while Moscow thought Washington would treat Moscow as an equal.

[@marrs1013]

Russia simply can't be treated equal to the US as it is not equal to it.

[@LarzGustafsson]

I'm sorry, Cold War, you don't make sense.

[@boomboy4399]

Don't have an argument do you

[@petershen6924]

Don’t overthink it. Putin is deeply influenced by Peter the Great and Peter Stolyoin.

[@dutchvanderlinde5004]

Amazing video.

[@gumpmosh]

say hello to Canadian prime-minister and all the escaped nazis and nazi collaborators in Canada lol🤣

[@boomboy4399]

Say hello to the Rusich group, wanger group and all the neo nazis in russia