Aleksandr Dugin, an ultra-nationalist Russian philosopher, congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 72nd birthday last week on Telegram, writing, “God save the Czar!”
Putin’s anti-Western worldview is based on neo-Eurasianism, a Russian imperialist philosophy that Dugin founded. “Golden Crown to your Angel Savior and good health to you” is a medieval Church Slavonic birthday greeting that Dugin modified and used in his message to celebrate the Russian strongman. The right-wing ideologue, sometimes known as Putin’s brain, was wishing for Putin himself to get the golden crown intended for the angel.
Many Westerners have been attempting to understand the Russian dictator’s worldview.
These are the top five items that Putin is most likely thinking about right now.
LEGACY: Dugin’s reference to Putin’s sainthood in his birthday greeting was not an accident. Since taking office nearly 25 years ago, Putin has been developing a spiritual fatherly image. In a “multipolar” world where Russia’s main arch-enemy, the United States, is no longer in control, he hopes to leave the legacy of a contemporary Czar, Vladimir, who restored Russia as an independent powerhouse.
