Who is Aleksandr Dugin, whose daughter was killed in a car bomb? Aleksandr Dugin, a political scientist and theorist, is a key proponent of Eurasianism in modern Russia and is thought to have influence over President Vladimir Putin.
Daria Dugina, 29, was killed in a car explosion in a Moscow suburb. She was the daughter of a political scientist and thinker Aleksandr Dugin.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) blames Ukraine for the killing, which Ukrainian authorities deny.
According to Russian authorities, the Toyota Land Cruiser Dugina was driving was blown up by a suspected explosive device. According to Russian official media, Dugin, 60, was the original target, and he only survived by changing his automobile at the last minute, resulting in the death of his daughter.
But why was Dugin a target?
Dugin is a vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dugin, who has been characterized as an ultranationalist, has attempted to influence Moscow through his writing, which has mostly concentrated on the concept of a resurrected Russia.
He has long campaigned for the merger of Russian-speaking and other territories into a massive new Russian empire, dubbed Eurasianism.
In his 1997 book, “The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia,” Dugin was harshly critical of US influence in Eurasia and advocated for Russia to rebuild its own authority in the region, as well as breaking up other nations’ territories.
Who is Aleksandr Dugin, whose daughter was killed in a car bomb?
The book was on army reading lists, but there is no evidence that Dugin ever had a direct influence on Russian foreign policy.
Dugin’s influence over Putin has also been a source of speculation, with some Russia watchers claiming it is significant, while others claim it is negligible because he has no official ties to the Kremlin.
Eurasianism as an idea
The ideology of Eurasianism, mostly advocated by Dugin, has been one of the most prominent ideas in the Kremlin. Many analysts accuse him of being a Russian fascist, but this does not appear to diminish his power.
He’s been dubbed “Putin’s brain” since his stance on various subjects has coincided with Moscow’s actions. Dugin has long advocated for military incursions in Ukraine.
Dugin’s Eurasianism envisions the formation of a new Euro-Asian Empire that seeks to unite all Russian-speaking peoples settled across all republics formerly under Soviet rule in a single state, in alliance with other Asian nations.
Political scientist refers to it as the “Eurasian Union” or “Greater Russia,” but its borders have yet to be defined. Dugin believes that globalism, as led by the United States, is a threat to Russia, Eurasia, and other civilizations.
There was a time when Dugin saw Putin as a leader who would take the Eurasianist path, but it would be incorrect to label the political scientist as the ideological architect of post-Soviet Russia.
Scholars have differing perspectives, with some seeing Dugin’s Eurasianism as a geopolitical strategy to allow Moscow to seize former Soviet lands.
This line of thought might be found in the works of Soviet historian Lev Gumilyov, who traced Russian roots in Asia rather than Europe, as many other historians and researchers have done.
Dugin, too, uses Gumilyov’s theory to support his anti-Western political stance, putting Russia at the forefront to defend the causes of not only Slavic nations of Eastern Europe but also Asian nations, against what he refers to as the West’s hegemonic liberal capitalist order.
Eurasianists, including Dugin, think that if such a clash occurs, the West, which is in moral decline, will be defeated by the Russia-led Eurasian alliance.
#Dugin assassination updates:
– Reports that surveillance cameras in the parking lot near the explosion had been disabled for last 2 weeks
– Car was owned by Daria, not Dugin
– Bomb was under driver’s seatLooks like a professional hit and she may have been the target after all
— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) August 21, 2022
