Latest Trends in the Ideology of Russophobia

The current article is an elaborated response to the recent publication in ‘Foreign Affairs’ devoted to the works of the renowned Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin and its impact on the current Russian policies. Anton Barbashin and Hanna Toburn, the authors of that article, use selected quotations and distorted excepts from Ilyin’s writings, to present him as an intellectual supporter and defender of fascism and of the national-socialist ideology. Their biased analysis leads them to drawing a parallel between the radicalism of 1920s–1930s and Moscow’s present-day strategy. An impartial analysis of Ilyin’s writings disproves this inaccurate reading of his ideas and reveals that he made a careful and balanced analysis of the major political trends, which defined intellectual landscape of his time. While he was a sincere opponent of Soviet bolshevism and Western liberalism, Ilyin, indeed, criticized both of them from the conservative angle. This approach in itself, however, does not make him an adherent of fascist or national-socialist regimes. In fact, he himself suffered early on from the repression pursued by Hitler's authorities straight after he came to power. The author of the current article demonstrates that this critical assault on Ilyin and his intellectual legacy represents a new development in the Russophobic ideology on the West. Although, this intellectual tradition has deep historical roots, today it becomes more relevant in major Western countries. The author highlights that ‘Russophobia’ – is a complex and multi-level ideological system, aimed to discredit fundamental foundations, of what is now often described as the “Russian World”. This new stage in its development reflects the emergence of Russia as a civilizational challenge to the domination of the West, which aspires not only to political, but also to intellectual leadership on the global arena. The current crisis of liberal values and identities in the West means that Russia, by its very existence, represents a tangible threat.

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