The Fourth Political Theory

Last updated
The Fourth Political Theory
Cover of The Fourth Political Theory.png
Cover of the 2009 Russian edition
Author Aleksandr Dugin
Original titleЧетвёртая политическая теория
TranslatorMark Sleboda and Michael Millerman
Language Russian
Subject Political philosophy
Published2009 (Amfora)
Publication place Russia
Published in English
2012 (Arktos Media)
Pages351 (Russian edn.)
ISBN 978-5-367-01089-3

The Fourth Political Theory [a] is a book by the Russian philosopher and political analyst Aleksandr Dugin, first published in 2009. In the book, Dugin states that he is claiming the foundations for an entirely new political ideology, the fourth political theory, which integrates and supersedes liberal democracy, Marxism, and fascism. [1] In this theory, the main subject of politics is not individualism, class struggle, or nation, but rather Dasein (existence itself). [2]

Contents

Thesis

In the book, Dugin states that he wishes to devise an entirely new political theory to replace what he identifies as the previous three dominant political theories: liberalism, fascism and communism. According to Dugin, his aim is to take elements from all three, 'neutralise and decontaminate' negative aspects such as racism and incorporate them into this new ideology. He refers to this ideology as a 'timeless, non-modern theory' valid for all time.

Dugin views liberalism as having 'defeated all its competitors'. He refers to the derision of the past by liberals and the modern concept of 'progress' as being seriously flawed, going so far as to describe it as racism and even 'moral genocide against the past'. [1]

From the three other political theories, he discards the aspects he finds unacceptable and highlights what he sees as the positive qualities. He combines them to form a new political theory based on the 'ethnos', describing this as 'the greatest value of the Fourth Political Theory as a cultural phenomenon; as a community of language, religious belief, daily life, and of sharing resources and efforts; as an organic entity'. [1]

Reception

Liberal Catholic magazine Commonweal described the book as a "schizoid mixture of the ontology of Martin Heidegger and Gilles Deleuze, postmodern relativism, criticism of liberalism, and geopolitical megalomania". [3]

The Globe and Mail columnist Doug Sanders has cited the book in his insistence that Dugin is "the central figure" in the movement behind Russian policy in events such as the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the war in Donbas; Dugin's work and the neo-Eurasianism englobing it are pointed at in this context by Foreign Policy as well (though this particular book is not named). [4] [5] French philosopher Alain de Benoist asserts a similar dynamic in this conflict. [6]

According to El Confidencial , the book has been influential in far-left and far-right circles in both Russia and the West. [7] Newsweek accused Steve Bannon, White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to President Donald Trump, of having ideological links with Dugin, [8] something that Dugin himself confirmed [9] and was later repeated by The Independent , that noted how Dugin's thought is influencing both Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. [10]

See also

Notes

  1. Russian: Четвертая политическая теория, romanized: Četvörtaja Političeskaja Těorija.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasia Party</span> Political party in Russia

The Eurasia Party is a neo-Eurasianist Russian political party. It was registered by the Ministry of Justice on 21 June 2002, approximately one year after the pan-Russian Eurasia Movement was established by Aleksandr Dugin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain de Benoist</span> French journalist and political theorist (born 1943)

Alain de Benoist, also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names, is a French political philosopher and journalist, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite, and the leader of the ethno-nationalist think tank GRECE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksandr Dugin</span> Russian political activist and philosopher (born 1962)

Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin is a Russian far-right political philosopher and the leading theorist of Russian neo-Eurasianism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Bolshevik Front</span> Political party in Russia

The National Bolshevik Front is a Russian political party with a political program of National Bolshevism. The party was founded in 2006 by supporters of Aleksandr Dugin following a split within Eduard Limonov's National Bolshevik Party. The NBF is affiliated with Dugin's Eurasian Youth Union.

The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a third position between the capitalism of the Western Bloc and the communism of the Eastern Bloc.

The Nouvelle Droite, sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Various scholars of political science have argued that it is a form of fascism or neo-fascism, although the movement eschews these terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesarism</span> Political philosophy inspired by Caesar

In political science, the term Caesarism identifies and describes an authoritarian, populist, and autocratic ideology inspired by Julius Caesar, the leader of Rome, from 49 BC to 44 BC.

The European New Right (ENR) is a far-right movement which originated in France as the Nouvelle Droite in the late 1960s by Alain de Benoist. Its proponents are involved in a global "anti-structural revolt" against modernity and post-modernity, largely in the form of loosely connected intellectual communities striving to diffuse a similar philosophy within European societies.

Eurasianism is a socio-political movement in Russia that emerged in the early 20th century under the Russian Empire, which states that Russia does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia and the "Russian world", forming an ostensibly standalone Russian civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Salvation Front (Russia)</span> Defunct political coalition in Russia

The National Salvation Front was a broad coalition of communist, socialist, and right-wing nationalist movements against the government of President Boris Yeltsin in Russia. Established in 1992, the FNS was the first group to be banned in post-Soviet Russia before playing a leading role in the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis.

<i>Foundations of Geopolitics</i> 1997 geopolitical book by Aleksandr Dugin

The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia is a geopolitical book by Aleksandr Dugin. Its publication in 1997 was well received in Russia; it has had significant influence within the Russian military, police forces, and foreign policy elites, and has been used as a textbook in the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian military. Powerful Russian political figures subsequently took an interest in Dugin, a Russian political analyst who espouses an ultra-nationalist and neo-fascist ideology based on his idea of neo-Eurasianism, who has developed a close relationship with Russia's Academy of the General Staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Bolshevism</span> Political ideology

National Bolshevism, whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks and colloquially as Nazbols, is a syncretic political movement committed to combining ultranationalism and Bolshevik communism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erdoğanism</span> Conservative ideology of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Erdoğanism refers to the political ideals and agenda of Turkish president and former prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who became prime minister in 2003 and served until his election to the Presidency in 2014. With support significantly derived from charismatic authority, Erdoğanism has been described as the "strongest phenomenon in Turkey since Kemalism" and used to enjoy broad support throughout the country until the 2018 Turkish economic crisis which caused a significant decline in Erdoğan's popularity. Its ideological roots originate from Turkish conservatism and its most predominant political adherent is the governing Justice and Development Party, a party that Erdoğan himself founded in 2001.

<i>Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?</i> 2017 British TV series or programme

Trump: The Kremlin Candidate? is a documentary film first broadcast by the program Panorama on BBC One, and first aired in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2017, four days before the Inauguration of Donald Trump. It examined links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies and the relationship between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. It features investigative journalist John Sweeney, who journeyed to Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and the United States during the course of his research. Sweeney had prior experience on the subject matter, having interviewed Trump in 2013, and Putin in 2014. The film was directed by Matthew Hill, Tomiko Newson, and Nick Sturdee.

<i>Fascism: A Warning</i> 2018 book by Madeleine Albright

Fascism: A Warning is a 2018 book about fascism by Madeleine Albright, published by HarperCollins.

The Palestinabuch, also Palestina Buch, Palästinabuch or Palästina Buch, is an allegedly lost manuscript by the German-Dutch historian and antisemite Herman Wirth (1885–1981), founder of the German Ahnenerbe, which its adherents claim would have changed the world if it had not disappeared. The myth plays a part in antisemitic theories maintaining that the Ashkenazi Jews descend largely or entirely from the Khazars or from Central Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruscism</span> Term describing Russian political ideology

Ruscism, a portmanteau of Russian fascism, is a neologism and a derogatory term which is used to describe the political ideology and policies of the Russian state under Vladimir Putin. It is used in reference to the Russian state's autocratic political system, ultranationalism and neo-imperialism, militarism, expansionism, corporatism, close alignment of church and state, political repression, use of censorship and state propaganda, and a cult of personality around Putin.

Elementy was a political magazine which was started and published by Russian political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin. Its subtitle was Evraziiskoe Obozrenie. It existed between 1992 and 2000 and was the mouthpiece of neo-Eurasianism in Russia.

Robert Steuckers is a Belgian writer and political activist on the far right, associated with the European New Right. He is a former member of GRECE and formed his own organisation Synergies européennes in 1994. He promotes pan-European nationalism and has been described as close to the Identitarian movement.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dugin, Alexander (2012). The Fourth Political Theory. Translated by Sleboda, Mark; Millerman, Michael. Arktos Media. pp. 1–50.
  2. "Dugin's 'Fourth Political Theory' and Postmodern Rage". 26 May 2018.
  3. McManus, Matt (27 November 2022). "Just Call It Fascism". Commonweal .
  4. Saunders, Doug (22 March 2014). "Has Putin bought into these dangerous ideas?". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  5. Barbashin, Anton; Thoburn, Hannah (2014-03-31). "Putin's Brain". Foreign Affairs .
  6. Benoist, Alain de (2019). Contre le libéralisme: La société n'est pas un marché (in French). Éditions du Rocher. ISBN   978-2-268-10141-5.
  7. Férriz, Ramón González (27 November 2018). "Tenebroso Dugin, el cerebro que inspira a la extrema derecha mundial". El Confidencial (in Spanish).
  8. Matthews, Owen (2017-04-17). "Steve Bannon's Ideological Ties to Russia". Newsweek.
  9. Nemtsova, Anna (2017-04-24). "Russia's Alt-Right Rasputin Says He's Steve Bannon's Ideological Soul Mate". The Daily Beast .
  10. Meyer, Henry (2017-02-03). "Alexander Dugin - The one Russian linking Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan". The Independent.