In the Western world, there are several political scientists, professors, and philosophers who are trying to squeeze the destructive imperialist ideas of Russian neo-fascist Dugin into university circles and political discussions by presenting them as philosophy. Among them is Canadian political scientist Michael Millerman, a professor from Toronto. In this article, we will describe in detail who Alexander Dugin is and why the spread of his Russian-imperialist ideas is not philosophy and why it poses a threat to society, in particular for young people and students.
Who is Alexander Dugin?
Alexander Dugin is not just a political philosopher—he is one of the most radical and dangerous ideologues of modern Russian imperialism. His influence extends beyond academia, shaping the ideological foundations of Russia’s aggressive foreign policy, including the invasion of Ukraine.
Dugin founded the International Eurasian Movement, which promotes the idea of a Russian-dominated Eurasian superstate, built through war, conquest, and the destruction of sovereign nations like Ukraine. Analysts widely recognize his ideology as neo-fascist, with clear roots in ultranationalism, imperialism, and mystical authoritarianism.
In this article, we will examine how Dugin’s fascist vision underpins Russia’s war against Ukraine and how Michael Millerman’s promotion of Dugin’s work helps to normalize and spread these dangerous ideas in the West.
Dugin’s Fascist and Imperialist Views: The Blueprint for Russian Expansionism
The Call to Kill Ukrainians
According to analysts, Dugin’s views have features characteristic of fascism, and he went down in history after he called in 2014 to “kill, kill, and kill” Ukrainians, who, in his words, “should not exist.” (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwgn3JGNrUo)
Perhaps the most infamous moment that reveals the genocidal core of Dugin’s ideology was his 2014 call for mass murder:
Dugin in 2014: “Kill, kill, and kill them (Ukrainians)! There should not be any more of them.”
This statement, made at the height of Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine, demonstrates that Dugin’s philosophy is not abstract—it is a call to action for violence and ethnic cleansing.
Yet, Michael Millerman continues to present Dugin as an intellectual worthy of study and engagement, failing to address his open advocacy seriously for genocide. By ignoring or downplaying these statements, Millerman enables the spread of fascist propaganda under the guise of academic debate.
The justification for Russia’s war against Ukraine
In January 2022, he claimed that Russia was not an enemy of Ukraine and did not want to harm the Ukrainian people or destroy Ukrainian statehood. But after the full-scale invasion began, he said that Russia could not lose the war. He said that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is “a fight against the unipolar world order centered on the United States and NATO.”
Dugin urged Russia to occupy the entirety of Ukraine and persist until they destroy all targets across the nation. According to him, “Controlling a part of Ukraine will not be a victory for Russia.”
On February 24, 2022, it was said that Russia will attempt to capture the entirety of Ukraine and “revive the empire”.
Dugin expressed the opinion that the Russian people are “superior to the West” (February 24, 2022). He called the West a “misunderstanding” and a “product of degeneration.” And Russia, which Dugin calls an “empire,” allegedly “does not allow the world to end.”
Dugin stated that Russia’s goal is to capture the entire territory of Ukraine (May 6, 2022). According to the propagandist, the maximum goal of the aggressor country, Russia, is to control the whole of Ukraine, while the minimum goal is to seize the territories from Kharkiv to Odesa, which the Russian Federation has coined the name “Novorossiya.”
He stated that Russia’s military actions against Ukraine are a “war of heaven against hell” (October 25, 2022). According to him, Ukraine is allegedly just a battlefield where “Holy Rus” is fighting against “the forces of absolute world historical evil.” Source: holodomormuseum.
Dugin has explicitly stated that Russia’s war in Ukraine is necessary to destroy the liberal world order and create a new Russian empire.
Dugin, February 24, 2022, when Russian launched an all-out war and a full-scale invasion of Ukraine: “Russia will try to capture the whole of Ukraine and revive the empire.”
Dugin, May 6, 2022: “Russia’s goal is to capture the entire territory of Ukraine.”
For Dugin, Ukraine cannot be allowed to exist as an independent state. He views Ukrainian sovereignty as an existential threat to Russia’s geopolitical dominance.
This aligns directly with Vladimir Putin’s justification for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, showing how Dugin’s ideology has been instrumental in shaping Russia’s aggressive policies.
Yet, Michael Millerman refuses to acknowledge Dugin’s role as a war ideologue. Instead, he presents Dugin as a complex thinker, ignoring the direct consequences of his ideas.
Dugin’s Hatred of the West and Liberal Democracy
Dugin is not just anti-Ukraine—he is fundamentally opposed to Western civilization itself. He openly calls for the destruction of liberal democracy, human rights, and the Western political system.
In his writings, Dugin labels the West as a “misunderstanding” and a “product of degeneration,” while claiming that Russia is the spiritual savior of the world:
Dugin, February 24, 2022: “The Russian people are superior to the West. (…) Russia does not allow the world to end.”
His fundamental opposition to democracy is even clearer in his book The Fourth Political Theory, which Michael Millerman has translated and promotes in the West.
In this book, Dugin writes, “We need to fight liberalism. We need to bring this lasting decay to an end. We need to overcome liberalism. We need to finish with liberalism, with an open society, and with human rights.”
This is a direct call to destroy the principles of democracy, freedom, and human rights. Yet, Millerman presents Dugin’s work as an alternative “philosophical system,” failing to acknowledge its extreme authoritarian and fascist implications.
Dugin’s Historical Fascist Roots and the National Bolshevik Movement
Dugin’s ties to fascist ideology are undeniable. In the 1990s, Dugin openly presented himself as a fascist. He repeatedly praised representatives of German National Socialism and its allies.
Together with the writer Eduard Limonov, he founded the National Bolshevik Party (NBP), which united far-right and far-left ideas. But the 2010s saw the revenge of “unruly” ideas. The Russian authorities spoke the language of Limonov, Dugin, and his friend, the writer Alexander Prokhanov, who demanded retribution for the humiliation of the 1990s, called Crimea and northern Kazakhstan Russian, considered liberalism the cause of all troubles, and combined the cult of Stalin with Orthodoxy.
Praise for Nazi and fascist thinkers
In the 1990s, Dugin openly identified as a fascist and praised figures from Nazi Germany and far-right ideologies.
Dugin’s early writings glorified:
- Carl Schmitt (Nazi legal theorist)
- Julius Evola (Italian fascist ideologue)
- National Socialist concepts of authoritarian rule
His movement borrows heavily from historical fascist theories, mixing them with Russian imperialist and Orthodox religious themes.
Founder of the National Bolshevik Party (NBP)
Dugin, alongside Eduard Limonov, founded the National Bolshevik Party (NBP), which combined elements of:
- Far-right ultranationalism
- Far-left Bolshevism
- Militaristic imperialism
This fusion of radical ideologies directly influenced modern Russian state propaganda, particularly the mix of Soviet nostalgia and imperialist ambitions seen in Putin’s policies today.
Dugin’s Influence on Russian State Policy
Dugin is often called “Putin’s ideologue” because his theories closely align with Russia’s real-world actions:
“The Fundamentals of Geopolitics”—The” Blueprint for Russian Aggression
In 1997, Dugin’s most famous book, “The Fundamentals of Geopolitics,” was published, in which the world is presented as an arena of struggle between the civilizations of land and sea—the “telurocracy” of continental powers and the “thalassocracy” of maritime powers. The former corresponds to the Eurasian world (led by Russia), and the latter to the Atlantic world (led by the United States).
In the land-based Eurasian states, Dugin wrote, the government is usually authoritarian, and the social system is collective. Democracy, individualism, and entrepreneurship are the lot of the Atlantic world. Behind the scenes of world history, the “Order of the Eurasians” and the “Order of the Atlanteans,” a kind of mega-special services, are fighting.
This conspiracy theory is perhaps Dugin’s favorite.
In “The Fundamentals of Geopolitics,” he called Ukraine’s independence an existential danger to Russia. He proposed the idea of establishing Moscow’s de facto control over southeastern Ukraine and Crimea, though not without annexation.
In his less serious articles, the philosopher did not shy away from everyday Ukrainophobia, using derogatory epithets.
In his book, “Ukraine: My War. Geopolitical Diary,” he writes, “Those who say now, “Only if there had been no war, are simply traitors” Understand the idea. Understanding Ukraine as an idea is crucial. Ukraine is the main idea for Russia; we must put reunification at the center of our agenda… Ukraine, as an independent state with some territorial ambitions, is a giant danger to the whole of Eurasia, and without solving the Ukrainian problem, it is pointless to talk about continental geopolitics at all… The existence of Ukraine in its current borders and with its current status of a “sovereign state” is tantamount to a monstrous blow to Russia’s geopolitical security, tantamount to an invasion of its territory.”
source: wikiquote
Dugin’s 1997 book, The Fundamentals of Geopolitics, laid out a detailed roadmap for Russian expansion, which included:
- Seizing Crimea and eastern Ukraine (which Russia did in 2014 and attempted again in 2022)
- Destabilizing Western democracies through propaganda and hybrid warfare
- Building alliances with far-right and far-left movements in Europe and the U.S.
This book is required reading for Russian military officers, proving that Dugin’s ideas have directly shaped Kremlin policies.
In 2008, Dugin and his associates organized an anti-fascist conference at the state-run RIA Novosti propaganda agency and devoted it to attacks on Ukraine and the Baltic states. “We need to raise the question of the expediency of the existence of the state of Ukraine,” Dugin said at the time.
Since 2012, he has been a member of the expert council under State Duma Speaker Naryshkin.
The press began to call him an informal adviser and ideologist to the United Russia party, which at the time announced a course toward conservatism. Dugin and right-wing drummers like him have been tirelessly voicing imperialist, ultranationalist, and paranoid anti-Western ideas for more than three decades.
Many have labeled Dugin as an ultra-conservative, Marxist, imperialist, fundamentalist, neo-fascist, among others. His publicity, bellicose statements, and oratory lead many observers to see him as one of, or even the main inspirers of, the revival of Russian imperialism and Moscow’s anti-Western turn.
In 2016-2017, he worked as the editor-in-chief of the Tsargrad TV channel, owned by “Orthodox businessman” Konstantin Malofeev.
Malofeev sponsored the cooperation of pro-government activists with far-right movements in Europe and the United States, and Dugin remained popular among European far-right and traditionalist groups.
Source: BBC
How Millerman Enables the Spread of Dugin’s Extremism
Given Dugin’s openly fascist, imperialist, and genocidal ideology, one might expect any serious scholar to reject and condemn his work.
Instead, Michael Millerman actively promotes it:
Millerman to Dugin: “Thank you very much for everything you have done to promote interest for my ideas, for Fourth Political Theory, and for other topics.”
Millerman translates Dugin’s works and frames them as serious intellectual contributions, rather than dangerous calls for war and authoritarian rule.
This whitewashing of fascism allows Dugin’s ideology to reach:
- Western academics and students
- Conservative and populist movements in Europe and the U.S.
- Anti-liberal intellectual circles
By treating Dugin’s ideology as an intellectual pursuit rather than an extremist agenda, Millerman enables its influence to spread beyond Russia.
Why Millerman’s Promotion of Dugin’s Work is Dangerous
Dugin’s ideology is not just academic—it has led to real-world war, destruction, and mass suffering.
By amplifying Dugin’s ideas without serious critique, Michael Millerman plays a crucial role in laundering and legitimizing fascist and imperialist propaganda.
If left unchallenged, Millerman’s work could help spread Dugin’s influence further into Western discourse, providing ideological cover for Russian expansionism and authoritarian rule.
The fight against Dugin’s fascism must include exposing those who amplify his voice in the West—including Michael Millerman.
