Putin's 'Russian exceptionalism'
The Russian president isn't crazy. He's blinded by a strangely familiar ideology.
Is Vladimir Putin nuts? After a phone conversation with the Russian president this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly concluded that he's "living in his own world," and may not be "in touch with reality." Ah, but whose reality? In the reality of the West, the Soviet Union lost the great "clash of civilizations," and its collapse was a triumph for capitalism, democracy, and human rights. But from where the former KGB agent sits, the dismemberment of the USSR was a tragic mistake. For a window into Putin's worldview, says David Brooks in The New York Times this week, we should look closely at the three Russian nationalist philosophers from the 19th and 20th centuries he often quotes and has assigned underlings to read: Nikolai Berdyaev, Vladimir Solovyov, and Ivan Ilyin.
All three, Brooks notes, advocate a grand, quasi-religious notion of "Russian exceptionalism" in which Russia is destined to play a pivotal role in world history. The West, these philosophers preach, is morally corrupt, excessively materialistic, and weak; hence Putin's embrace of the Russian Orthodox Church and his disdain for homosexuality and feminism. Only Russia, awakened to its destiny by a bold visionary such as himself, can lead mankind out of the darkness. "The hour will come when Russia will rise from disintegration and humiliation," Ilyin wrote, "and begin an epoch of new development and greatness." Putin, in other words, is the mirror image of an American neocon — messianic, Manichaean, and disdainful of international law and the sovereignty of other, lesser nations. Recent history would suggest that when a country's leader is blinded by grandiose ideology, his adventures abroad — and at home — will not end as he envisions.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.
-
The Thursday Murder Club: who's in the film and what we can expect
Speed Read Author Richard Osman reveals starry cast set to play his 'septuagenarian sleuths'
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
The toilet roll tax: UK's strange VAT rules
The Explainer 'Mysterious' and 'absurd' tax brought in £168 billion to HMRC last year
By The Week UK Published
-
Why is Tesla stumbling?
In the Spotlight More competition, confusion about the future and a giant pay package for Elon Musk
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published