The Closing of the Russian Mind

Not so long ago, Russia under Putin appeared to be a corrupt state run by an elite mainly interested in their own privileges and wealth: authoritarian but not fundamentally expansionist. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine made it clear that Putin is driven by far more than simply greed. Putin’s Russia is, Andrei Kolesnikov argues, in the grip of intense ideological radicalisation, seeking to mobilise its population in support of a form of chauvinistic neo-imperialism using increasingly totalitarian methods. This march towards ‘hybrid totalitarianism’ is underpinned by a messianic view of Russia as a superior, ‘spiritual’ form of civilization-state underpinned by its Orthodox faith and hatred of Western ‘decadence’. Based upon a falsified version of history and a profound hostility to modernisation, this ideology is making Russia an international pariah and condemning Russian citizens to endless war and economic stagnation. The only hope for redemption is a profound moral regeneration which redefines the nation’s place in the world and embraces the spirit of democracy. This incisive analysis of the ideological dynamics of late Putinism, written by a leading Russian scholar and journalist, is an indispensable guide to understanding Russia’s recent descent into war-mongering barbarism. Not so long ago, Russia under Putin appeared to be a corrupt state run by an elite mainly interested in their own privileges and wealth: authoritarian but not fundamentally expansionist. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine made it clear that Putin is driven by far more than simply greed. Putin’s Russia is, Andrei Kolesnikov argues, in the grip of intense ideological radicalisation, seeking to mobilise its population in support of a form of chauvinistic neo-imperialism using increasingly totalitarian methods. This march towards ‘hybrid totalitarianism’ is underpinned by a messianic view of Russia as a superior, ‘spiritual’ form of civilization-state underpinned by its Orthodox faith and hatred of Western ‘decadence’. Based upon a falsified version of history and a profound hostility to modernisation, this ideology is making Russia an international pariah and condemning Russian citizens to endless war and economic stagnation. The only hope for redemption is a profound moral regeneration which redefines the nation’s place in the world and embraces the spirit of democracy. This incisive analysis of the ideological dynamics of late Putinism, written by a leading Russian scholar and journalist, is an indispensable guide to understanding Russia’s recent descent into war-mongering barbarism.