Monopoly on ideology

The Constitution of the Russian Federation, Art. 13, says: "No ideology can be established as state or mandatory." However, the Russian government during the third Putin term was quite obviously a bit of the search for ideology. It is no coincidence that in the previous two years in the speeches of deputies and senators, the idea of ​​canceling the thirteenth article has repeatedly surfaced.

Attempts to conceptually formalize (and more often intuitively feel) the system of new imperial conservatism for the era of mature Putin steel, of course, a reaction to the political protests of 2011-2012. The statesmen took up the creation of an image of the country, claiming the right to be the guardian of archaic "genuine values", which the West, poisoned by liberal propaganda, has long lost. The speeches of spiritual scrapings turned out to be an excellent background and sufficient justification for the rapid tightening of the political regime.

The ideological allies of Russia naturally turned out to be European right - supporters of traditional values, Euroskeptics and fighters with American hegemony ( see p. 27 ). But they are a purely decorative object for the Russian government, their task is only to create the appearance that there is no international isolation. “I myself am the daughter of a conservative, believe me, not everything in Europe is so unambiguous,” we will allow myself to re-turn a popular Internet meme.

At the same time, things are happening inside the country, at first glance, amazing. The authorities confiscate the rhetoric of the right, but the right -wing themselves remain at the risk zone and are regularly subjected to repression, regardless of their attitude to Ukrainian events or the machinations of the United States ( see p. 34 ). New authoritarianism appreciates the monopoly on ideology no less than a monopoly on violence. And here is the root of real Russian trouble.

The problem is not the existence of nationalists. They are a natural part of the political landscape. The problem and threat is that the ideas of nationalists are the basis of the power political arsenal, and the possibility of public discussion about the chosen path is simply excluded. From this game, even if it is purely tactical, it is very difficult to get out without shining the country into ordinary wildness.

Photo: Elena Gorbacheva/Kommersant