This chapter argues that the Russian regime does not exhibit doctrinal coherence and the “Putinism” is not a fixed category. It explains the Putin regime's ideational construction as a return to normalcy: political as well as geopolitical, economic, and cultural. This return to normalcy implies achieving a form of emotional security, or securitization, and dignity. The chapter also elaborates the distinction between Russia and “the West,” arguing that these distinctions are crucial, as Russia positions itself differently toward each. Russia's declared identification with Europe makes it possible to articulate three interlinked geopolitical projects. The first is to insist on the existence of a “true” Europe with conservative values, the second geopolitical project is to bring Russia closer to the Mediterranean, and the third project is to rebalance, at regular intervals, like a pendulum, the Europe–Asia equilibrium of Russian foreign policy. With such context, where both “the West” and Russia compete to define what Europe means, the chapter analyses how the strategic narrative on fascism takes form.
Neo-Eurasianism in Russian Foreign Policy: Echoes from the Past or Compromise with the Future?