Alexander Dugin

Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin is a Russian political philosopher and the leading theorist of Russian neo-Eurasianism. Born in Moscow in 1962, Dugin was an anti-communist dissident in the 1980s and later joined the ultranationalist Pamyat organization. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he co-founded the National Bolshevik Party with Eduard Limonov in 1993, before leaving in 1998. His most influential work, "Foundations of Geopolitics" (1997), outlines a vision for Russia to challenge American hegemony by expanding its influence across Eurasia. Dugin's ideology draws on thinkers like René Guénon, Julius Evola, Carl Schmitt, and Martin Heidegger, and has been described as far-right and fascist by critics, though he rejects these labels. He advocates for a "conservative revolution" against Enlightenment ideals and has been a vocal supporter of Vladimir Putin and Russian foreign policy, including the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Ukraine. Dugin served as head of the Department of Sociology of International Relations at Moscow State University from 2009 to 2014. His daughter, Darya Dugina, was killed in a car bombing in August 2022.