Alexander Dugin, a prominent spokesman for the Russian royal family and known as the "brain of Putin" and the "wise man of Russia", recently concluded a successful visit to China. On social **, he shared his feelings:"Having just returned from China, the sights there are truly unforgettable, and we have to learn from them. ”
On top of this, Dugin also issued a wake-up call to all Russian compatriots - ".ChinaThis great civilization, which is preparing for a decisive battle with the West, reminds us that if we fail to solve the Ukrainian problem in the coming years, we will lose the opportunity to be a decisive force in this global decisive battle. ”
Alexander Dugin, known as the "brain of Putin" and "the beacon of Russian wisdom", has a very different opinion of China from his early views.
In his notable work, Introduction to Geopolitics, Dugin discusses in detail how Russia should divide northern China. He advocated that Russia control the Northeast, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and the first region, shaping it into a strategic buffer zone between China and Russia, while the rest of the region is positioned as the "Khitan Industrial Belt", which will provide Russia with all kinds of products.
His reasoning is based on a deep strategic consideration:Treat China as a long-term adversary。Dugin is convinced that once China rises, it will inevitably try to regain the territory that once belonged to it.
Dugin also expressed an idealistic idea that China, as compensation for the division of its northern territories, could expand its sphere of influence to the south, annexing India, Southeast Asia, and even Australia, but that Vietnam should be owned by Russia. He further asserted that after achieving these territorial expansions, China and Russia could work together to create an unprecedented "Eurasian empire" as a way to challenge the "Atlanticist empire" led by the United States. In this imperial vision, China will play a leading role in the economic sphere.
Dugin, the ultra-ideologue who once advocated the partition of China, was once popular among conservative political circles in Russia. Not only have his theories been incorporated into the textbooks of the Russian Military Academy, but many of Russia's foreign policies after Putin came to power seemed to echo Dugin's ideas, so some people called him "Putin's brain".
However, since 2014, Dugin's influence in *** has begun to wane. Since 2018, he has turned to China to expand his business, and in the process, he has completely changed his perception of China. He began to advocate that China, Russia, the United States, and Europe could become the four pillars in a multipolar world, and explicitly supported China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, and emphasized the importance of an alliance between China and Russia.
Recently, he gave a speech at an event at home, arguing that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is not only "Putin's ultimate battle", but also the beginning of the formation of a multipolar world pattern, and that the sacrifices of the Russian people must endure in order to build this new world order. He further pointed out that the current intensifying Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a manifestation of the realization of another front in a multipolar world, predicting that Iran will be involved in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, and that the Middle East region will usher in a large-scale war, which may lead to the demise of Israel.
Dugin proposed that in the future, the world will form a multipolar pattern that includes seven major civilizations: China, Russia, India, the West, Africa, Latin America, and Islam, and that the dominant position of the West will become history, and it will become a member of the alongside China, Russia, and other civilizations.
As can be seen from Dugin's shift in his perspective on China and the world, his worldview has also undergone a significant evolution. While this shift may have been partly influenced by his personal career development strategy, the deeper reason lies in the drastic changes in the international situation, which have prompted him to re-examine his theories and positions.
Dugin's theories gained fame in the late 90s of the last century. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was once pinning its hopes on integrating into the West in the hope of achieving national rejuvenation. However, this dream was soon shattered by the harsh reality, and the Russian economy fell into a secular stagnation, and the glory of the former great power was gone. Therefore, in the late 90s, many political ideas emerged rapidly in Russia, and Dugin's theory was one of them.
At the time, Dugin's conviction that Russia had the potential to rebuild the former Soviet Union and the Tsarist Empire was clearly reflected in his writings, in which he argued that Russia had the right to act against China as it wished, and that China would conform to Russia's layout. This assumption is based on the premise that Russia's national power is immensely powerful. Moreover, Putin's promises to the Russian people since taking office have further strengthened the belief that ultranationalists such as Dugin believe that their ideas are viable.
However, reality soon showed its ruthless side. Under Putin's leadership, Russia has indeed regained some vitality, but it is still a long way from returning to its former glory. For ultranationalists like Dugin, the Chechen war, the Russian-Georgian conflict, and the partial victory in Crimea were only minor successes, and Russia's march toward a full-blown victory seemed too slow.
The intensification of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is undoubtedly a profound challenge to their views.
It is almost two years since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and although Russia successfully fended off Ukraine** in the second half of last year, in the eyes of ultranationalists, Russia has actually "failed to achieve a clear victory for more than a year", and the war still seems to be stalled at the end of 2022. Strelkov, another prominent figure in the Imperial Russian faction, mentioned in an interview last December that Russians should not be satisfied with the current progress and should be aware that the Russian army has not been able to achieve a breakthrough for more than a year.
Dugin, as a political theorist, understands that it is necessary to follow the trend of the times and adjust his position in a timely manner. As a result, we meet a Dugin who no longer adheres to the views of the past, and who is now talking about a multipolar world, discussing the equal position of China, Russia and the West, describing the Russia-Ukraine conflict as "the first battle of a multipolar world".
Assuming that Russia had quickly resolved the Ukrainian problem at the beginning of the war, Dugin might not have come up with the concept of a "multipolar world first war".
Dugin's timely adjustment of his past theories with the times is in itself worthy of recognition. However, it must also be pointed out that such a Dugin, who has adapted to the times, is different from the Dugin who had the courage to put forward bold and unique theories in the past. Dugin's fame is due to his courage to come up with ideas that others dare not imagine or mention.