‘Anton Shekhovtsov is the world’s leading expert on Russian political warfare against the West. His book is a masterly investigation of the Kremlin’s tactics and strategy, highlighting both successes—and failures. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to defend our freedom from our most formidable adversaries: Russia’s crony-capitalist ex-KGB regime.’ – Edward Lucas, Senior Editor, The Economist
‘Events in Ukraine, Syria, and the US elections have thrust Putin’s foreign policies to the centre of the attention of the Western media. Meanwhile, the growing nexus of informal contacts between his government and the far right, both inside and outside Russia, has been practically ignored. Shekhovtsov has deployed his rare combination of expertise in fascist studies and fluency in the relevant languages and cultures to good effect, filling in with meticulous scholarship what turns out to be a disturbingly large gap in the conventional understanding of Putinism. The result is a book relevant not just to observers of right-wing extremism and Russia-watchers everywhere, but to anyone prepared to be even more concerned about the new Cold War, where firewalls, encryption, and maskirovka have replaced watchposts, spies, and Pravda.’ – Roger Griffin, Author of Modernism and Fascism
‘This path-breaking book is the first comprehensive investigation into, and political analysis of, the Soviet and post-Soviet Russian regimes’ paradoxical relations with various Western right-wing extremists. The book discloses numerous hitherto un- or little known facts about Moscow’s semi-secret outreach to European ultra-nationalists during the 1920s and 1950s, as well as about Putin’s recent undisguised utilization of Western anti-liberal forces. Shekhovtsov follows meticulously and interprets revealingly the various motivations, strategies and challenges of the Kremlin’s intensifying cooperation with the international radical right. His book makes important contributions to both, political science sub-fields such as right-wing extremism and Russian studies, as well as to the current public discourse on the nature, methods and repercussions of Moscow’s escalating confrontation with the West.’ – Andreas Umland, Senior Fellow, Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation
Reviews
Paul Jackson: Moscow’s Mates (Searchlight)
Bradley Jardine: Russia’s New ‘Useful Idiots’? (Coda Story)
Martin Dewhirst: a review article (Scotland-Russia Forum)
Jay Kinney: Russians and Reactionaries (Reason)
Matthew Kott: Detangling Putin’s web in the West (New Eastern Europe)
Louis Proyect: Between Socialism and Barbarism (CounterPunch)
Galia Ackerman: Russia and the Western Far Right (Politique internationale)
Eva Zelechowski: Tango Noir: Tanz der dunklen Mächte (Wiener Zeitung)
Gerald Schubert: Russlands Netzwerk mit den rechten Parteien des Westens (Der Standard)
Grigorij Mesežnikov: Kto tancuje zhubné čierne tango (SME)
Thomas Willms: Putins Söldner? (Antifa)
Maurizio Stefanini: La relazione (poco) complicata tra Putin e i fascisti (NeXt Quotidiano)
Review essays
Anne Applebaum: A New European Narrative? (The New York Review of Books)
Charles Clover: The Return of Russian Nationalism (Financial Times)
Александр Верховский: Русское танго с правыми (Colta)
Martin Kragh: Så blev extremhögern och Putin bästa vänner (Svenska Dagbladet)
Hella Rottenberg: De Kremlin-connectie van uiterst-rechts (Raam op Rusland)
Book related interviews
Kreml-Klüngel (Ingo Petz, Fluter)
La Russie de Poutine? «Une kleptocratie sans idéologie» (Amélie Poinssot, Mediapart)
Qualche legge del manuale di Putin per dare scossoni all’Europa (Maurizio Stefanini, Il Foglio)
Putinovi ultrapravičiari (Jakub Drábik, Tomáš Nociar, Zuzana Kepplová, SME)
Skaldyk ir valdyk (Kotryna Tamkutė, IQ)
“Вмешательство России – это новая норма” (Ярослав Шимов, “Радио Свобода“)
Зачем Кремлю европейские крайне правые? (Никита Жолквер, Deutsche Welle)
Навіщо Кремлю європейські крайні праві? (Микита Жолквер, Ольга Войтович, Deutsche Welle)
“Putin ist jedes Mittel recht” (Bernhard Odehnal, Tages-Anzeiger)
“The Kremlin’s Loyal Friends in Europe” (Krisztian Simon, Green European Journal)
En dyster tango for to (John Færseth, Fritanke)
Related articles
Peter Pomerantsev: Disinformation and the Decay of Nations (The American Interest)
Michael Weiss: The Making of a Russian Disinformation Campaign: What It Takes (CNN)
Robert Skidelsky: Putin Family Values (Project Syndicate)
Filip Rogiers: Poetins favoriete Belg (Der Standaard)
Jeroen Zuallaert: Pourquoi l’extrême droite flamande succombe au charme de Poutine (Le Vif)
Jeroen Zuallaert: Waarom extreemrechts in Vlaanderen valt voor de charmes van Poetin (Knack)
Coen van de Ven: Litouwse toestanden (De Groene Amsterdammer)
Judith Huber: Was Russland und Europas Rechte verbindet (SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen)