DUGIN, ALEKSANDR GELYEVICH

(1962– )

Political philosopher and geopolitician. Born into amilitaryfamily on 7 January 1962, Dugin studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute before taking a job in theKGBarchives. During the late Soviet period, he worked as ajournalistand joined theanti-SemiticpartyPamyat. In the first years of Russian independence, he served as an advisor to theCommunist Party of the Russian Federationbefore becoming the chief ideologue for theNational Bolshevik Party.He also served as the chief geopolitical advisor to Gennady Seleznev, the speaker of theState Dumaat the turn of the millennium. By the end of the 1990s, he declared himself independent from political parties and offered his services as a one-man think tank for the authorities, though he later established the anti-globalization, radical centristEurasia Partyin 2002. Dugin represents the premier intellectual force behind contemporary Russianneo-Eurasianismand is the leading theoretician of the Russian far right (though many in Russia view him as a dangerous eccentric). He advocates a “conservative revolution,” intended to overturn post-Enlightenment ideals embedded in Russian politics and society. He sees no contradiction between Russian dominance and minority nationalism, and contends that only through a restoration of a liberal Russian empire inEurasia, including the formerEastern Bloc, can world stability be achieved. Reminiscent of the writings of British geographer Halford Mackinder, who theorized the “heartland” theory of world politics, Dugin’s geopolitical vision supports a Berlin-Moscow-Tehran-Tokyo axis in opposition to theUnited States,China,Great Britain, andTurkey. He has zealously supported theEurasian Economic Communityand other schemes to integrate Russia with the former Soviet republics. His main theoretical work isThe Fundamentals of Geopolitics(Osnovy Geopolitiki), published in 2000.