Abstract

This thesis is an examination of Aleksandr Dugin's The Foundations of Geopolitics, of which I have translated important sections into English and these are included as an appendix. Despite the importance of Foundations of Geopolitics to Russian strategic thought there has not been a translated edition published in English. This work was published in 1997 and has been quite influential for Russian political and military leadership. I strive to provide context for the setting in which Foundations of Geopolitics was created through an analysis of the social and political conditions that existed in Russia while the text was being written, as well as how and why it came to achieve such influence. This is followed by an analysis of the text itself. Finally, I examine the ways in which the strategic precepts offered by Dugin in Foundations of Geopolitics have been adopted and employed by the Kremlin in foreign and domestic policy. Additionally, I reveal the direct and indirect links connecting Dugin and his fascist Neo-Eurasianist ideology to the leaders and ideologues of fascist, far-right, xenophobic, and often racist movements. This has created a network of like-minded movements advocating for the reclamation of a traditional identity domestically, but looking to Moscow for international leadership and guidance in foreign policy. The origins of these developments can be traced back to Dugin's Foundations of Geopolitics.