It was not the West's far right or far left but rather its political mainstream and financial elites that helped to bolster the Russian president's regime. They pumped their assets into the Kremlin’s mafia-capitalist system and were corrupted in return.
KYIV – A few years ago, during a panel discussion on the politics of memory at a university in a German-speaking country, I called Russian President Vladimir Putin “the most powerful fascist politician in the world.” Afterwards, the organizers shyly told me that while the event had gone well, the label I applied to the Kremlin leader was “too much” – even though Russia had by that time already occupied Crimea and started a war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. I was surprised not so much by the organizers’ comment as by the way they made it. They seemed genuinely embarrassed, as if I had said something obscene.
KYIV – A few years ago, during a panel discussion on the politics of memory at a university in a German-speaking country, I called Russian President Vladimir Putin “the most powerful fascist politician in the world.” Afterwards, the organizers shyly told me that while the event had gone well, the label I applied to the Kremlin leader was “too much” – even though Russia had by that time already occupied Crimea and started a war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. I was surprised not so much by the organizers’ comment as by the way they made it. They seemed genuinely embarrassed, as if I had said something obscene.