Terrorism serving geopolitics. The russian-ukrainian conflict as an example of the implementation of Alefsandr Dugin's geopolitical doctrine and Evgeny Messner's concept of "Rebel war"

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TERRORISM SERVING GEOPOLITICS. THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN CONFLICT AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALEKSANDR DUGIN'S GEOPOLITICAL DOCTRINE AND EVGENY MESSNER'S CONCEPT OF «REBEL WAR»

VOYNOVS'KYY Mikhal

Without geopolitics it is not possible to understand the events in Ukraine - every attitude excluding that is doomed to an immediate failure Quoted after: A. G. Dugin, Geopolityka znaczenia. Semantyczna wojna wokoi Ukrainy [online], http://xportal.pl/?p=13003 [availability: 20 VI 2014]..

Aleksandr Dugin (1962-)

Every man, whether a serviceman or a civilian, takes part in the information warfare no matter of its form Каждый человек, военный или граж данский, участвует в информационной войне в той или иной ее форме. Quoted after: Г. Почепцов, Информационные войны. Основы военно-коммуникативных исследований, Москва 2000, р. 2. Vladimir Markomienko (Russian: Владимир Игнатьевич Маркоменко) - General Lieutenant, between 1995 and 1996 serving as the I Deputy Director General of the Federal Agency for Government Communication and Information providing support to the President of the Russian Federation (Russian: Федеральное агентство правительственной связи и информации при Президенте РФ, ФАПСИ). See: A. Колпакиди, Энциклопедия секретных служб России, Москва 2003, p. 616. Compare: A. Soldatov, I. Borogan, The New Nobility. The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB, New York 2010, pp. 20, 282, 292..

Gen. Vladimir Markomienko (1939--)

Defining the interests of the state in reference to its geographical location is the key element to understanding political actions being taken by the Russian Federation in an international domain. The essence of this reliance is precisely reflected in the views of an orthodox philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1947), who coined the statement of «the power of space over the Russian soul». As he wrote the Russians do not possess the narrowness of the Europeans, who concentrate their energy on a little space of their souls, neither do they possess the wariness, the economy of time and space, intensity of culture ³. Geographical location of Russia for centuries have been influencing the way of perceiving the world by the Moscow leadership elites. Starting in the 16th century they have been forced to pursue their policy in three main directions: the western one (from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathian Mountains), the southern one (from the Danube River to Persia) and the eastern one (from the Volga River to the Altai Mountains). That is why they have always tried to stay active in all three areas at the same time, which demands both consolidation of the country and centralization of its authorities ⁴. Furthermore, existence in the is relatively high T. W. Grabowski, Rosyjska sila. Sify Zbrojne i glowne problemy polityki obronnej Federacji Rosyjskiej w latach 1991-2010, Czestochowa 2011, pp. 21-22; В. В. Кириллов, Ю. Н. Крючков, Влияние войны на развитие и международное значение России в мире, «Военная мысль» 2008, issue 2, pp. 10-21.. The involvement of Russia in the armed conflicts which took place after 1991 can only confirm that thesis. It is worth underlying that the conflicts were conditioned by, interalia, geographical locations neighbouring the territories of the post-Soviet areas, especially those with diverse ethnic, social and religious structures, which is particularly meaningful in case of the annexation of Crimea and the events in the West of Ukraine T. W. Grabowski, Rosyjska sila.., p. 38. For more see: Р. Эллисон, Россия, региональные конфликты и применение военной силы, in: Вооруженные силы России: власть и политика, С. Э. Миллер, Д. Тренин (red.), Кембридж-Лондон 2005, pp. 147-191..

Hence it is not surprising that geopolitics in Russia is understood as a political strategy applied also to international relations B. A. Колосов, Российская геополитика: традиционные концепции и современные вызовы, «Общественные науки и современность» 1996, issue 3, p. 86. Compare: B. A. Колосов, H. C. Мироненко, Геополитика и политическая география: Учебник для вузов, Москва 2001, pp. 9-29.. What is more, geopolitics in present Russia has gained the status of a general world view, a universal concept which helps to build the world view and one's own attitude towards it Н. А. Косолапой, Геополитика как теория и диагноз (метаморфозы геополитики в России), «Бизнес и Политика» 1996, isuue 4, pp. 57-61; W. Marciniak, Przestrzen jako kategoria dyskursu politycznego w Rosji wspol- czesnej, Warsaw 2004, pp. 4-13; S. Makinen,. A good example confirming that opinion are the views of Valery Korovin - the Director of the Centre for Geopolitical Expertise providing support to the Head of the State Duma and a prominent activist for the neo-eurasian movement. His statement published in «Izwiestija» (Russian: «Известия») journal contained precise information about the aims and methods of the Russian policy towards Ukraine as well as its global context. Valery Korovin distanced himself from the ideological heritage of the Soviet Russia, criticising its leaders for ideologisation of the foreign policy. He underlined that the geopolitical method applied in order to stop Russia's collapse was recognized as the basis of state security strategy only after Vladimir Putin's rise to power in the Russian Federation. According to Korovin the basic aim of the Russian foreign policy should be restricting the influence of the «Atlantic Block» (the USA and the European Union) through creating a global, regional and subregional security model. This aim should be achieved by absorbing the countries and the nations belonging in the past to the Russian space (close to Russia in civilization and culture) to the orbit of eurasian geopolitical pole. According to Korovin it should be done in the way similar to the annexation of Crimea, which he interpreted as supporting the regional and local conflicts solving through keeping the peace. What is more, in Korovin's opinion the geopolitical method should be treated as the basis for all actions taken in the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior and the Federal Security Service in order to neutralize any threats to security of the state В. Коровин, Геополитика вместо идеологии, «Известия» dated 24 IV 2014 [online], http://izvestia.ru/news/569829 [availability: 20 VI 2014]. For more information concerning the Soviet leadership's attitude towards geopolitics see: B. B. Пустошкин, Геополитические теории войны, in: Советская военная энциклопедия. Том 2: Вавилон - Гражданская война в Северной Америке, A. A. Гречко (red.), Москва 1976, pp. 521-522; K. Grygajtis, Jozef Stalin oraz sowiecka geopolityka i geostrategia lat 1924-1953, Nysa 2011, pp. 10-18. For more see: D. Kerr, The New Eura- sianism: The Rise of Geopolitics in Russia's Foreign Policy, «Europe-Asia Studies» 1995, issue 47, pp. 977-988; G. Smith, The Masks of. The quoted statement reveals that the Russian- Ukrainian conflict is one of the stages in the implementation of the broader political doctrine aiming at strategic reintegration of the post-Soviet space, and in the further perspective - building of the so- called multipolar world. The author of that concept is Aleksandr Dugin - an influential intellectualist and a theoretician of the Russian geopolitics and eu- roasianism. The basis of the eurasian movement, reborn thanks to Dugin, is a constant thought of rivalry for the power over the space between countries, political-military blocks, international organisations and civilizations ⁿ. Aleksandr Dugin has always claimed that anti-western eurasian ideology and academic geopolitics serve substantial, far-reaching Russian imperialistic aims. In his opinion geopolitics is:

(...) the worldview of power, education about power and for the power (...). Geopolitics is the discipline of political elites, both the real ones and the alternative ones; its history proves that it is dealt with exclusively by people actively engaged in ruling over nations and countries or preparing to that role (...). In the present world it is the book of power, which should be taken into account while taking global (important) decisions, such as alliances, starting wars, making reforms, restructuring societies, applying economic and political sanctions on a large scale¹².

The interpretation of the above definition by Dugin shows that geopolitics is a subjective vision of space, rooted in the consciousness of a given society or political environment. It is the result of a rational and subjective calculation of the interests and political goals, as well as cultural factors (historical experience, national myths etc.). Those factors significantly affect the activity of a given subject, which in Proteus: Russia, Geopolitical Shift and the New Eurasianism, «Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. New Series» 1999, issue 24, pp. 481-494; J. O'Loughlin, G. Toal, V. Ko- lossov, Russian Geopolitical Culture and Public Opinion: The Masks of Proteus Revisited, «Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. New Series» 2005, issue 30, pp. 322-335. this particular case is a political practice J. Potulski, Wspolczesne kierunki rosyjs- kiej mysli geopolitycznej: mifdzy naukq, ideo- logicznym dyskursem a praktykq, Gdansk 2010, pp. 9-10; G. O. Tuathail, Postmodern Geopolitics? The Modern Geopolitical Imagination and Beyond, w: Rethinking Geopolitics, O Tuathail, S. Dalby (ed.), London-New York 1998, pp. 16-39; E. Lashchenova, National Archetypes of Russia's Foreign Policy, «International Affairs. A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations» 2013, issue 2, pp. 110-118; T. Ambrosio, G. Vandrovec, Mapping the Geopolitics of the Russian Federation: The Federal Assembly Addresses of Putin and Medvedev, «Geopolitics» 2013, issue 18, no. 2, pp. 435-466..

According to contemporary researchers, Aleksandr Dugin is a representative of political environments close to the idea of the Russian Empire restoration. This idea became the leading motive of his long political, scientific and journalistic activity. His high position in the narrow circle of the group of people close to president Vladimir Putin is widely known. Dugin officially states that he prepared a lot of geopolitical projects commissioned by the authorities A. Г. Дугин, Стратегические выводы Прямой Линии Путина [online], http:// ev- razia.org/article/2505 [availability: 20 VI 2014]: На теоретическом уровне эта идеология, в центре которой стоит Народ, развита в работе, которую я подготовил по просьбе Кремля ещё в 2007 году, под названием «Обществоведение для граждан Новой России» (...) На практическом уровне в 2011 году эта идея - взять Народ в качестве основы идеологии - была как политический проект предложена мной Администрации Президента, в результате чего появился проект Общероссийского Народного Фронта. Я полагал, что эта идеология могла бы стать мировоззренческим ядром «Единой России», но Путин решил иначе. Compare: B. Иванов, Дугин - политический Мерлин России [online], http://www.evrazia. info/article/4377 [availability: 20 VI 2014].. He is often presented in mass media as an expert or a commentator of current political events. An important factor in the biography of Aleksandr Dugin is his relations with high rank representatives of the Russian law and order institutions. It seems obvious that those relations highly influenced his brilliant career. What is more, his initiative has led to creating such political and social organisations as: the International Eurasian Movement (Russian: Международное Евразийское движение, МЕД), the Eurasian Youth Union (Russian: Евразийский союз молодёжи, ECM) and «Izborski Club» (Russian: Изборский клуб). These organisations gather experts from different areas as well as most noticeable people from the Russian political and cultural world sharing his ideas J. B. Dunlop, Aleksandr Dugin's «Neo- Eurasian» Textbook and Dmitrii Trenin's Am.

The main purpose of this research is presenting the assumptions of the Russian doctrine in relation to Ukraine and specifying the methods of its realisation. First of all, it is necessary to show the relation between Aleksandr Dugin's geopolitical doctrine and some aspects of the Kremlin's foreign policy - both global and regional. This is the subject of the first part of this article. Secondly, it is crucial to define the ways of realisation of foreign policy, which, having in mind Korovin's opinions, may be referred to as «geopolitical method». Basing on his statements it can be said that geopolitical method should be understood as diverse activities helping to achieve a given political doctrine. As it was said before, Korovin suggests that the «geopolitical method» should be mainly applied by law and order institutions. Therefore a thesis should be advanced here, according to which a «geopolitical method» is also, apart from standard forms of military activities, a wide spectrum of asymmetrical activities. This definition refers to unconventional methods of warfare, such as terrorist activities, information, psychological and economic warfare bivalent Response, «Harvard Ukrainian Studies» 2001, issue 25, pp. 91-127; A. Umland, Aleksandr Dugin's Transformation from a Lunatic Fringe Figure into a Mainstream Political Publicist, 1980-1998: A Case Study in the Rise of Late and Post-Soviet Russian Fascism, «Journal of Eurasian Studies» 2010, issue 1, pp. 144-152; M. Wojnowski, Aleksandr Dugin a resorty silowe Federacji Rosyjskiej. Przyczynek do badah nad wykorzystaniem geopolityki przez cywilne i wojskowe sluzby specjalne we wspolczesnej Rosji, «Przegl^d Bezpieczenstwa Wewn^trznego» 2014, issue 10, pp. 11-38.. The intention of the author of this article is therefore to present the Russian concept of asymmetrical activities, to which one should definitely include the so-called «rebel war» (Russian: мятежевойна) being right now an element of a wide concept of the Russian «information warfare» (Russian: информационная война). A question should be raised to what extent has Russia, fulfilling its geopolitical goals in Ukraine, used the possibilities advanced by such activities. In order to evaluate

¹⁶ A. Wejkszner, Wojny XXI wieku. Istota wspolczesnych konfliktow asymetrycznych, in: Zagrozenia asymetryczne wspolczesnego swiata, S. Wojciechowski, R. Fiedler (ed.), Poznan 2009, pp. 120-121; I. Arreguin-Toft, How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict, Cambridge 2005, pp. 1-48; D. J. Katz, Waging Financial War, «Parameters» 2013, issue 43, pp. 77-85.

that it is necessary to show the analogy between theoretical aspects of such activities and practice, which is the subject of the second part of this article.

The territory of Ukraine in the geopolitical doctrine of Aleksandr Dugin and his supporters

The starting point for considering the meaning of Ukraine in Aleksandr Dugin's geopolitical doctrine is his fundamental masterpiece titled The Basics of Geopolitics. Geopolitical Future of Russia. This outstanding book, both in form and content, was released in 1997. It is worth underlying that generals and strategists from the Military Academy of the Russian Federation Armed Forces Headquarters (Russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооружённых сил Российской Федерации) participated in its origin. The book presents geopolitical doctrine, which is supposed to help the rebuilding of the lost empire comparable with the Soviet Russia. Nowadays this book is the basic position devoted to geopolitics, obligatory in universities and military academies. It gained huge popularity both in Russia and abroad, so it cannot be neglected. The author's ideas are supported by many Russians. What is more, the content of the book constitutes the basis for Dugin's other written works, as well as programs for the political parties and organisations established form his initiative Учебное пособие для вузов, Москва 2011; idem, Геополитика России: Учебное пособие для вузов, Москва 2012..

The most important task set by Dugin for the Russian nation is the creation of powerful continental empire. The first step on the way to the world's supremacy should be the strategic integration of the post-soviet space and creation of the Eurasian Union, which would be the geopolitical equivalent of the Soviet Russia A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., pp. 170-175. Compare: Политсовет ОПОД «Евразия», Евразия превыше всего (манифест Евразийского движения), in: Евразийский взгляд. Основные принципы доктринальной евразийской платформы, H. Мелен- тьева (ed.), Москва 2001, р. 14; A. Г. Дугин, Россия может быть или великой, или никакой, in: Основы евразийства, A. Г. Дугин (ed.), Москва 2002, pp. 781-787.. One of the basic conditions to reach that goal is, inte- ralia, spreading the strategic control over the part of the globe described by Dugin as the «Russian South» (Russian: русский Юг), namely the territories located in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula from Serbia to Bulgaria, Moldova, southern and eastern Ukraine, Rostov, Krasnodar Krai, the Caucasus, eastern and northern coast of the Caspian Sea, the Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) as well as Mongolia, Tibet and Manchuria. Ruling over those territories is just a temporary stage for further expansion to the South and the «warm seas». According to Dugin taking such an action is crucial for securing the Russian borders. In his opinion, leaving those territories in the «geopolitical vacuum» would create a possibility to include them into the «Atlantic» influence zone. The territory of the «Russian South» is treated by Dugin as the main platform of confrontation between the Russian Federation and the «Atlantic» world, the place where the fate of the future empire will be decided of A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., pp. 340-345.. However, as he claims, setting the new geopolitical order in this part of the world is not possible without regulating the status of the Ukrainian statehood. In his opinion, taking control over Ukraine would allow Moscow for continuous expansion to the West and to the South. The control over the south-eastern part of Ukraine would assure Russia an inviolable border, which would be the northern coast of the Black Sea. This would restrict the influence of the «Atlantic» Turkey, whose main purpose, according to Dugin, is the realization of the «Turanism-related geopolitical pro- ject» - the idea of assembling the Turkish nations, especially the ones living in Kazakhstan, Tatarstan and The Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, which would obviously threaten the Eurasian Union Ibidem, pp. 347-349, 356. Compare: A. A. Сотниченко, Турция: геополитическая ось Евразии, in: Геополитика. Информационно-аналитическое издание. Вып. IX:.

Gaining control over the Western Ukraine would be the first step to decomposing the so-called «dressing sta- tion» (Russian: санитарный кордон).

This definition, according to Dugin, refers to countries located in the eastern part of a little European peninsula between the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. This area has the strategic meaning for the security of the Russian Federation. On one side of this border area the western peripheries of the Eurasian continent are located, on the other side, according to Dugin, there is a bridgehead of the «Atlantic world» subordinate to the Atlantic empire - the USA. Cultural differences multiply geopolitical diversity of that region, since «the dressing station» is the very place of ethnical-religious longitudinal demarcation between the countries of the Latin civilization and the Byzantine Empire heritage Турция, Л. В. Савин (ed.), Москва 2011, pp. 4 14; idem, Геополитика Турции, w: Левиафан: Материалы семинаров по проблемам геополитики и многополярности, A. Г. Дугин (ed.), Москва 2011, pp. 141-149; A. Telkin, P. A. Williams, Geo-Politics of the Euro-Asia Energy Nexus. The European Union, Russia and Turkey, London 2011, pp. 145-186.. The «dressing station» include, most of all, Poland, but also Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Western Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Dugin underlines that the characteristic feature of foreign policies of the countries located in this region is hostility towards Russia and Germany and servility towards the USA. The existence of the «dressing station», which in Dugin's opinion is the product of the Atlantic geopoliticians implemented after World War I, is the source of conflicts between Germany and Russia. What is more, this product prevents the union between the Eurasian Empire and the so-called continental Europe, identified by the geopolitician as being under the German influence. Furthermore, the diversified cultural character of the countries of the «dressing station» hampers their full integration with both the East and the West. That is why it is necessary for Russia to liquidate the «dressing station» through a total reorganization of the Central-Eastern European countries' borders. The new geopolitical order should not be reached through territorial annexation. Instead Dugin suggests creating several federations of the regions characterized by the uniform geopolitical orientation, which means the ability to integrate in religious, cultural, ethnic and economic aspects with the eurasian empire or the continental Europe staying under the German control ²². Taking the religious background under consideration (the dominance of the Catholic and Protestant influences) the Russian geopolitician claims that the following countries stay under the German influence: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the part of Ukraine where Greek-Catholic and strong Ukrainian nationalism dominate. The remaining part of Ukraine should be integrated with the Russian Federation. Other countries of the south-eastern Europe, where the Orthodox Church believers dominate, such as Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Greece as well as mostly Muslim Albania should be, in his opinion, included into the Rusian influence zone reaching as far as the Ionian Sea A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., pp. 219-228. Compare: А. Л. Бовдунов, Политико-географические образы Центральной и Восточной Европы и геополитическая организация региона, in: Геополитика. Информационно-аналитическое издание. Выпуск X: Восточная Европа, Л. В. Савин (ed.), Москва 2011, pp. 4-18; P. Eberhardt, Koncepcje geo- polityczne Aleksandra Dugina.., pp. 228-232. It should be underlined that in Dugin's geopolitical arrangement both allied countries, namely Germany and Russia, should cooperate and fight against any aspects of Russophobia in Central Europe and anti-German movements in Russia. Partnership and cooperation of both countries should be confirmed by the project involving liquidation of all mutual agreements and substituting them with tripartite ones - the idea strongly postulated by Dugin. For example, German-Polish or German-Ukrainian, relatively Russian-Polish or Russian-Ukrainian, relations and alignments should be changed into agreements of three countries. Russia should become one of the parties in the first case, whereas Germany in the latter one. In result, several countries located between Russia and Germany shall lose any aspects of sovereignty and their future will be decided upon by joined authorities from Moscow and Berlin. See: A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., pp. 224-226. Compare: P. Eberhardt, Koncepcje geopolityczne Aleksandra Dugina.., p. 232..

The division of Ukraine, suggested by Dugin, is closely related to the above geopolitical scenario. In his opinion the existence of Ukraine is unexplainable in the geopolitical sense and its fate is determined by the country's name, which is the synonym of the border region, the buffer zone between the East and the West. He also underlines that no unique civilization has been formed in the territory of Ukraine. According to Dugin, the Dniester River and the Dnieper River, two biggest rivers flowing in the territory of Ukraine, have for ages efficiently restricted the integrative possibilities of this country. He claims that a huge Ukrainian space is inhabited by different «etnos» (Russian: этнос - meaning «society») who have diverse geopolitical goals. The ethnic inhabitants of Great Russia and having the same roots (in terms of civilization) inhabitants of Little Russia are both Russia-oriented, whereas different in culture «etnos» of the Western Ukraine are becoming a part of the Western-European cultural zone A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., This is why the presently existing Ukraine cannot fully unite with the Eurasian block or the Central Europe, which is under the German influence. In such a geopolitical arrangement Ukraine - a puppet in the hands of the American politicians - can only exist as a part of the «dressing station», being the source of destabilization of the Eastern Europe and the seed for a potential armed conflict. These are the reasons why a sovereign Ukraine, as it is today, poses a threat to the interests of Russia and is a serious danger to its security, which Dugin identifies with as much as invading the territory of the Russian Federation pp. 376-377. It is worth underlying that Dugin uses the word etnos (Russian: этнос, from the Greek: ethnos) while discussing geopolitical situation of the «dressing station». In his works it means societies strictly bound with the territory they inhabit, possessing a number of special qualities such as: history, language, legislation regulating interpersonal relations, customs and morality. According to his concept this idea is subordinate to the idea of nation, which is identified with a country and consists of many etnos. See: A. Г. Дугин, Этносоциология, Москва 2011, pp. 8-25; В. Э. Багдасарян, Этнос и проблема цивилизационной идентичности, w: Этноцентрум: Сборник материалов по проблемам этносоциологии и социальной антропологии, А. Г. Дугин, А. Л. Бовдунов (ed.) Москва 2012, pp. 138-143. Hereby Dugin, referring to the theory of Lev Gumilev, creates a scientific legitimization of the process of including different ethnic groups and even national minorities to the «Russian nation». In case of Ukraine this theory leads to the conclusion that Ukraine is nor inhabited by one Ukrainian nation but individual etnos which leads to the conclusion that Ukraine is not a country and the Ukrainians are not a nation. The Russian geopolitician strongly supported his view in the interview given to the Polish magazine «Fronda» in 1998: «Russians and Germans perceive the world in terms of expansion and we will never change that. We are not intereste d in just keeping our. That is why, similarly to other countries belonging to the «dressing station», it is necessary to divide Ukraine into four parts of homogeneous geopolitical background, i.e.: own country or nation. We are interested in absorbing, by exerting pressure, a maximum number of categories that would complete us. We are not interested in colonization like the British, but in setting our strategic geopolitical borders, even without russification, though some russification sometimes is necessary. In its sacred- geographical evolution Russia is not interested in the existence of independent Poland in any form. Neither Ukraine. And it is not because we dislike the Polish or the Ukrainians - it is because the rights of sacred geography and geopolitics tell so (...) I am convinced that there will be a place for the Germans, the Polish, the French and the Italians in our common Eurasian home. The Russians will only impose the barbarian, sacred lifestyle to the whole Eurasia. The way it works will only depend on a given nation's predispositions. For example, I see the Polish as defenders of the Slavic racism». Quoted after: Czekam na Iwana Groznego. Rozmowa z Aleksandrem Duginem. Rozmawiai Grzegorz Gorny, Moscow 1998, «Fronda. Pismo poswi^cone» 1998, issue 11-12, pp. 133, 139.

• the Eastern Ukraine, the region on the right bank of the Dnieper River, from Chernihiv to the Sea of Azov, which for ages has been close to Russia in a political, religious and ethnic sense. Dugin does not exclude giving a wide autonomy to that region, but he does not specify its range. In the future, as Dugin claims, that region should be annexed to the Russian Federation,

• the Crimean Peninsula, which should be under the strategic control of Russia. Because of the complex ethnical character of that part of Ukraine, it should be given autonomy taking into account the interests of all «etnos» living there, namely inhabitants of Great Russia, Little Russia and the Crimean Tatars,

• the Central Ukraine spreading from Chernihiv to Odessa (including Kiev). The Central Ukraine is close to the Eastern Ukraine because of the same cultural background and that is why it should be under the Eurasian influence,

• the Western Ukraine, including: Volhynia, Galicia, Transcarpathia and the eastern part of Bessarabia. This part of Ukraine has the main impact on politics in the whole country, being the support for the anti-Russian and proWestern forces. That is why the purpose of Russia should be not the annexation, but the permanent control over that region through the establishment of the «Western Ukrainian Fe- deration», integrity of which could be regulated depending on the needs. The strategic Russian border should be moved westwards as far as possible (the eastern part of the Central Europe). The cultural-religious border, on the other hand, should be located between the Central Ukraine and the Western Ukraine. Such a solution should help to protect the Orthodox Russia against the influence of Catholicism as well as the United and Uniting Churches Developed on the basis of: A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., pp. 376-383. Compare: A. A. Коваленко, Перспективы федерализации Украины, w: Геополитика. Информационно-аналитическое издание. Выпуск II: Украина, Л. В. Савин (ed.), Москва 2010, pp. 15-22; А. Ю. Корнев, Государственноправовые аспекты развития крымского регионализма, w: Геополитика. Информационноаналитическое издание.., pp. 25-32; Л. В. Савин, Национально-политическая идентификация в Украине и формы репрезентации власти, w: К геополитике, Л. В. Савин (ed.), Москва 2011, pp. 51-64..

In order to eliminate Ukraine as an American policy's tool in the Central-Eastern Europe it is necessary to execute its political decomposition. A successful realisation of that process in the forthcoming years (take into account that the concept derives from the book published in 1997) should be the main imperative of the Russian foreign policy in this part of the world. The Russian Federation cannot become a strategic, political and demographic empire without integration with Belarus and Ukraine A. Г. Дугин, Основы геополитики.., pp. 382-383..

The «orange revolution» was the main reason for the radicalisation of Dugin's and his intellectual followers' ideas concerning Ukraine. The revolution was perceived as artificially planned and supported by the USA with only one aim - to create the government in Kiev whose purpose will be to break off all Ukrainian relations with Russia. That is why the success of the «orange revolution» was treated, for obvious reasons, as a threat to the eurasian empire ²⁸. It is worth underlying that one of the consequences of that event was setting the concept of not only a close integration of Ukraine with Russia, but also the methods of reaching that goal. For example, stirring an armed uprising in some parts of Ukraine was postulated, which in case of present events has a significant meaning. On 26 April 2006 in the Russian Exhibition Centre, located in the north-eastern administrative part of Moscow, the second convention of the Eurasian Youth Union took place. The society was established by Dugin and it is active both in Russia and in the countries associated within the the Commonwealth of Independent States. During the convention it was decided that Russia and Ukraine belong to a uniform geopolitical space. It was underlined that the Russian Federation deprived of its relations with Ukraine will lose the status of the Eurasian empire, becoming an Asian country. On the other hand, Ukraine without close connections to Russia is predestined to political and economic marginalization. Pro-Western Ukrainian government, established as a result of the «orange revolution», was recognized as a regime occupying the country. Leonid Savin - the moderator of the Ukrainian fraction of the Eurasian Youth Union, and Valery Korovin - the leader of the organization at that time, who both took part in the convention, postulated establishing the Eurasian Movement and the Eurasian Uprising Army in Ukraine. The basis for that undertaking would be the Eurasian Youth Union, which is active in many Ukrainian cities and regional structures of the National Bolshevik Party (Russian: Национал-боль- шевистская партия, ИБП). The main task of the uprising army would be conducting a guerrilla warfare and getting rid of the invaders in the occupied territory Публичная интернет-библиотека Владимира Прибыловского, Съезд ECM объявил повстанческую войну Украине [online], http://www. anticompromat. org/esm/esm02. html [availability: 29 VII 2014]: «Перед членами нового союза выступил координатор ЕСМ Украины Леонид Савин, который пригрозил вновь возрождающемуся оранжевому режиму Украины, что «если оранжевое марионеточное правление на Украине восстановится, то мы начнём сопротивление оранжевой власти, создав Евразийскую повстанческую армию на Украине, а так же евразийский рух» (...) А в условиях, когда Украина захвачена «оранжевой» прозападной марионеточной властью, ЕСМ не видит иных способов очистить оккупированную территорию от захватчиков, кроме как путём создания повстанческого движения - евразийского фронта на Украине. Сегодня ячейки ЕСМ - узлы будущей повстанческой армии находятся во всех городах и населённых пунктах Украины. Как только «оранжевые» вновь объединятся - мы откроем партизанское сопротивление, создав Евразийский Рух и Евразийскую повстанческую армию»..

In the following years Aleksandr Dugin consequently proclaimed his views, treating Ukraine as a deteriorating country suspended in geopolitical vacuum between the West and the East.

He also postulated, on numerous occasions, the idea of dividing Ukraine as he suggested in his book The Basics of Geopolitics It is worth to quote some of Dugin's opinions concerning geopolitical future of Ukraine as an example. On 13 August 2008, commenting on the Russian-Ukrainian relation. Interpretation of the events that occurred in Euromaidan led to Dugin reaching for the geopolitical and eschatological-philosophical arguments. In his opinion the world has been witnessing for ages a planetary struggle between the «Supercivilization of the Sea» (embodied by the USA, the UK, Australia and their allies) and the «Supercivilization of the Land» (embodied by Russia, Continental Europe excluding the UK, the Arabian countries, middle-Asian countries, China, India and Japan). Dugin associates the «Supercivilization of the Sea» with individualism, conformism, materialism, modernism and capital, whereas the «Supercivilization of the Land» with tradition, hierarchy, personalism and collectivism. In mythology it symbolizes the struggle of Leviathan, i.e. the USA, with Behemoth, i.e. the eurasian civilization ships, Dugin said: «Ukraine acts as if it was a NATO member state, as if its security was guaranteed by a country possessing nuclear weapon. Russia won't accept that. Please, split Ukraine into two parts: Crimea, Kharkov, Donetsk, Kiev will be yours. Volhynia and Ivano-Frankivsk may as well become the NATO members (...) This may end with a war. An armed conflict with Russia about Crimea may lead to a civil war in Ukraine. Who sows the wind, will reap the whirlwind» - quoted after P. Eberhardt, Koncepcje geopolityczne Aleksandra Dugina.., p. 236. Compare: A. G. Dugin, The fate of Ukraine is settled. An interview given to the Russian state television in 2009 [online], http://geopolityka.net/prof-dugin-kwestia- podzialu-ukrainy-jest-juz-przesadzona/ [availability: 29 VII 2014]. In 2013 Aleksandr Dugin formulated three options of solving the problem of Ukraine. The first one assumed the division of Ukraine into two parts: the western and the south-eastern ones. This could prevent a potential civil war, which was to endanger Ukraine. The second option involved a complicated wheeling and dealing with pragmatic Ukrainian authorities in order to make them accept the eurasian integration project under the pressure of circumstances or promises of political, economic and energy advantages. In Dugin's opinion this would be a peaceful scenario, possible to be implemented in case of a social-economic crisis in Ukraine. In order to reach that goal one should reach for the «network-centric warfare» arsenal, aiming at subjugating the Ukrainian elites - using both open and clandestine methods - and convincing them to the rightfulness of the eurasian integration through the use of economic, energy, information and scientific instruments. The third option, according to Dugin the most avant-garde one, assumes the use of the western-Ukrainian nationalists. In his opinion they do not share the ideas of liberalism,

Москва 2012, pp. 15-22; idem, Основы геополитики.., pp. 14-19, 466-471.. Nowadays this confron- individualism, tolerance, multicultural aspects, human rights and other postmodernist standards, which became dominant in the present western society. Dugin underlines that the Ukrainian nationalism is the main obstacle on the path to the realisation of the eurasian integration project. However, it is worth trying to «convert the poison into the cure» and the enemy into an ally, because the eurasian empire assumes keeping the tradition and the characteristic cultural features of the «etnos» and nations, including the Ukrainian ones. See: A. Г. Дугин, Евразийский проект и его украинская проблема [online], http:// www.odnako.org/magazine/material/ evraziyskiy-proekt-i-ego-ukrainskaya-problema/ [availabilty: 29 VII 2014]; J. Darczewska, Anatomia rosyjskiej wojny informacyjnej. Operacja krymska - studium przypadku, Warsaw 2014, pp. 20-22.

³¹ A. Г. Дугин, Геостратегический контекст противоборства морских и континентальных держав, in: Геополитика. Информационно-аналитическое издание. Выпуск XIV: Евразийский Союз, Л. В. Савин (ed.), tation takes place both in the ideological and information, as well as in the economic, military and political spheres It is worth underlying that cyberspace is also the place of the struggle between the two «supercicilizations». Aleksandr Dugin postulates the development of the eurasian, multipolar cybergeopolitics based on the use of the Internet. Thanks to that it will be possible to create virtual, network-centric civilizations that will constitute an opposition block against the Atlantic globalisation, which hostile towards Russia. Virtual civilization should be attached to a given geographical area. They should also possess their own cultural codes, which Dugin understands as paradigm of the activities of numerous, supranational organisations such as religious, political and ecological associations, which thanks to the Internet tools could effectively promote their ideas. Diverting the vector of the Internet use from a homogenous instrument to a platforms placed in given language systems will cause the rise of the virtual equivalent of the multipolar world. Such virtual platforms, like the Chinese Internet or the Runet, can, in Dugin's opinion, create the basis for a true opposition against the civilization and political monopoly of the USA, which is popularized in the form of globalization. He also claims that the potential of the Internet as a «Global Network»

- geopolitical instrument of the West - should be used consciously and with political craftiness in order to reintegrate the post-Soviet space. Dugin suggests creating the project called «Virtual Eurasia» (Russian: Виртуальная Евразия), whose existence will amount to occupying the broadest possible Internet sector and building its own virtual space. According to him Eurasia exists not only in the physical, economic and political space, but also in the virtual one. See: А. Г. Дугин, Поп-культура и знаки времени, Санкт-Петербург 2005, pp. 486-493; B. Go- Iqbek, Runet jako extra territorium bylego ZSRR. The place of the geopolitical rivalry, apart from Transnistria, Caucasus, Abkhazia, the South Ossetia and Georgia, is also Ukraine. According to Dugin, the main goal of the USA is the realisation of the strategy developed by Zbigniew Brzezinski, which assumes separation of Ukraine from the eurasian civilization, at the same time reducing Russia to the role of a regional superpower. In his opinion the first step of that strategy execution was the overthrow of the legal authorities in Kiev with the help of Ukrainian nationalists supported by the USA and establishing the anti-Russian government, which started extermination of the Russians living in Ukraine. This is how Russia was made to give a «symmetrical response» to the «Atlantic provocation in Kiev» in the form of the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, fulfilled with the help of its inhabitants supported by the Russian army. What is more, the Ukrainian crisis being the result of the events in Euromaidan was treated by Dugin as a reason for the revision of Ukrainian integrity. The next step taken in order to «protect the Russian borders» was applying the Crimean scenario in the eastern parts of Ukraine - wokol rosyjskiej cybergeopolityki, in: Studia nad rosyjskq geopolitykq, L. Sykulski (ed.), Czestochowa 2014, pp. 95-100.. It is worth underlying that Aleksandr Dugin, for whom the situation in Ukraine is also a personal matter (his mother was Ukrainian), became actively engaged in