Putin and the Alt Right
Putin’s Russia is a far right kleptocracy. These are not your Communists of yesteryear; that went out with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Under Yeltsin, Russia adopted a version of capitalism and democracy. That did not work out too well for the first decade as the economy collapsed with high inflation and financial crises. The oligarchs (well-connected industry insiders) bought up the large, previously government operated industries at rock bottom prices and amassed vast fortunes; huge gaps between rich and poor developed. Under Putin, the Russian economy prospered until the annexation of Crimea and the imposition of Western sanctions slowed its growth beginning in 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Russian_Federation Under Putin, economic decision making has returned to much tighter Presidential control, and those Putin favored oligarchs are able to benefit greatly.
Religion was banned in the USSR as part of the tenets of Communism. The Russian Orthodox Church is now legal; it is fully aligned with the state, and is very popular with ordinary Russians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Russia It has been fully supportive of Putin’s wars against Ukraine. It should be speaking out loudly against the invasion and the war crimes being committed in Ukraine as most all other church leaders are doing.
The Russian Orthodox Church is a branch of the Byzantine Church that flourished initially from its home base in Constantinople/Istanbul, and its religion spread from the Black Sea up the rivers into what is now Ukraine and then into what is now Russia. Orthodox Christians differ from Roman Catholics on issues, such as the primacy of the Pope, the infallibility of the Church, celibacy of the priests, the use of church icons, and the position of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity. Among the other differences are Latin vs. Greek liturgical origin, and the centrality of Rome vs. the primacy of Constantinople/Istanbul and Hellenic culture. Catholicism is the religion of Western Europe, while Orthodox Christians are primarily based in Eastern Europe. As distinct from the primacy and infallibility of the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church, Patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox religions are not doctrinally infallible on matters of faith, and Orthodox priests can marry. In some ways, Orthodox Christians are closer in their religious theology and practices to mainstream Protestants than to Roman Catholics. Orthodox Christians are more likely to live in a nation where there is a close alignment between church and state, thus there is a Russian Orthodox Church, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a Serbian Orthodox Church and they may be more likely to support those in political power in their nation, creating an alliance of church and state. Protestant Christianity was formed in revolt against the too tight alignment (at the time) between the nation states of Western Europe and the Roman Catholic Church. Remember the Holy Roman Empire, that was as Voltaire said neither holy nor roman nor an empire, and don’t forget the Inquisition’s use of torture and executions of doctrinal heretics. The US Constitution assures every American freedom of religious choice, and it also prevents the state establishment of a singular state religion. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment In theory at least it saves us from the worst excesses of singular religiosity aligned with the nation’s politics. I still vividly remember the courage of many clergy during the 60’s in opposing racial segregation, discrimination and the misbegotten mission of the Vietnam War.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Putin had already developed a strong following among right wing parties across Europe. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/24/europeans-favoring-right-wing-populist-parties-are-more-positive-on-putin/ In the US in that time frame, he was singularly unpopular, but far more acceptable to Republicans than Democrats, probably because of Donald Trump’s endorsement more than any other reason. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/26/putin-remains-overwhelmingly-unpopular-in-the-united-states/ Hard as it is to believe, even after the invasion of the Ukraine, Republican Trump voters had a more favorable view of Putin than of US President Joe Biden. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-voters-hold-more-favorable-view-putin-they-do-biden-poll-1683459
What is going on here? Trump has been remarkably consistent in his support of Putin. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/02/28/trump-praises-putin-cillizza-the-point-orig.cnn Trump’s Rasputin, Steve Bannon, likewise has been overflowing with his admiration for Putin and his policies. https://www.newsweek.com/former-trump-adviser-steve-bannon-backs-anti-woke-vladimir-putin-1682122 Bannon and Trump had envisaged developing a powerful alliance between Putin’s Russia and a Trumpist America. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/07/sinister-history-behind-the-rights-putin-mania-steve-bannon-china Tucker Carlson, Trump’s alter ego on Fox News, somehow finds his way to finger the Biden Administration as the culprit for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and to exonerate or at least excuse Putin. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/08/tucker-carlson-goes-full-blame-america-russias-ukraine-invasion/ Even in the face of Russia’s war crimes in attacking maternity hospitals, killing women and children and relentlessly bombing civilians, right wing extremist and America First podcast host, Nick Fuentes, reiterated his whole-hearted support for the Russian soldiers and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and several GOP House members were in attendance speaking and showing their support of Fuentes. https://www.businessinsider.com/nick-fuentes-praises-putin-weeks-after-gop-lawmakers-attend-event-2022-3
Sixty-nine members (54 Republicans and 15 Democrats) of the US House of Representatives voted, for a variety of reasons, against the extensive military aid approved for Ukraine earlier this month. https://www.newsweek.com/these-69-house-reps-voted-against-providing-ukraine-aid-1686658
So what has happened to turn the Russophobes of yesteryear and transmute them into Russophiles in less than a generation? Why are those who so detested a left-wing dictatorship in the USSR now fawning fans of a right-wing dictatorship in Russia? Part I think is attributable to Vladimir Putin and part to Donald Trump. Putin has longevity and reputation as a “strong man” willing to use force, poison, kill and imprison his opponents and smash cities and countryside to get his way. Trump has made it acceptable even fashionable among his circle of supporters to be a fan boy and admirer of Putin. Putin has gone out of his way to insult, threaten and imprison those Russian political opponents who oppose his rule. Trump has gone out of his way to destroy the careers of those in his own party who won’t go his way and threatened to lock up his opponents. Trump’s petty and repetitious insults and widespread lying do not rise to the level of Putin’s history of poisoning his opponents or invading his neighbors, but they definitely riled up a portion of his base to do some unspeakable things in his name and on his behalf. People who should have known better tried to overthrow the results of a free and fair election he lost resoundingly. Both have demonstrated mastery of the arts of lying and disinformation. Much to his enormous frustration, Trump was subject and is still subjected to the checks and balances built into the US political system. Putin has no comparable guardrails, having bent and distorted the liberal democracy reforms instituted under Yeltsin into a government of, by, and for himself and his sycophants.
Certain American states have built an exceedingly tight embrace between a large component of white evangelicals and their favorite politicians. This may mirror the relationship that has developed between Putin and the Russian Orthodox church. The key differences are as to who pulls the strings. In Russia, it is clearly Putin who determines policy, and the Orthodox Church falls in line. In a state like Florida or Texas, it may be the prominent, white, evangelical church leaders who call the tune, identify and decide the issues of the day for their political allies in the states’ government. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/28/politics/white-evangelicals-gop-trump/index.html The white, conservative, evangelical Christian movement has become such a large and dominant component of the GOP that its issues resonate throughout the party’s political priorities and now with its governing ethos. And on the flip side, it has alienated much of the rest of the nation and contributed to a profound fracturing of the body politic. https://www.oah.org/tah/issues/2018/november/evangelicalism-and-politics/ In my religious upbringing and education, Jesus stood for love of neighbors, peace and compassion for the poor and disadvantaged, not the polar opposites being practiced in his name. In Russia, there is an ever-shrinking space for political dissent, disagreements, and discussion. In the US, Trumpism has led to a far more engaged politics and yes to a political fracturing and combativeness and robust national debate not seen since the movements of the 60’s.
Putin’s war crimes in Ukraine are fraying the Putin/Trump alliance to the extent that Trump is now publicly musing about dropping a nuclear bomb on Russia while Putin has put his nuclear weapon systems on high alert. Some Trump acolytes like Senator Graham and Vice President Pence are decrying Trump’s unstinting praise for his erstwhile best pal. All but a die-hard few of the GOP’s elected officials, such as a Madison Cawthorn or a Marjorie Taylor Greene, have now become fans of Zelenskyy rather than Putin.
What does the future hold? One might hope that the political leadership of the US would start to show the common unity of purpose being shown by NATO. I’m not holding my breath. One might hope that the Russian people rid themselves of their noxious leader and take their nation in a far better direction. Again, not holding my breath. One could hope that Trump fever has crested and is on the wane. Possible, hope so. One should hope that the Western democracies have developed and will maintain a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to the defense of their democratic values. That I think is possible, even likely, and profoundly to be hoped and worked for by all of us.
Lucien Wulsin