An Analysis of the Motives of the Russian Federation-Ukraine War within Dugin’s Understanding of Neo-Eurasianism

Abstract

It is accepted that the most important ideologue of neo-Eurasianism, which emerged at the end of the 1980s, is Alexandr Dugin. Neo-Eurasianism was not significantly influential in Russia’s domestic and foreign policy until the end of the 1990s. Nevertheless, it is claimed that it began to become more prominent, especially with Putin’s dominance in power. Many international media agencies have reported that, just like the 2014 war between Ukraine and Russia, the war of February 2022 was also provoked by Putin. However, the claim that this war results from an inherited historical legacy, rather than being a war initiated unilaterally by Putin, seems more realistic. At this point, it can be said that neo-Eurasianism was one of the intellectual factors that influenced Putin’s attack on Ukraine.

Keywords

• ukraine
• ideology
• the russia–ukraine war
• alexander dugin
• neo-eurasianism