The Fourth Political Theory

beyond left and right but against the center

Let us trace the influence of Hegel’s philosophy on the theory of international relations. This is most evident in Marxism and liberalism, while Hegel had little impact on realism. Let us examine this topic in more detail.

Speech by N.V. Melentieva at the presentation of the book "Eschatological Optimism" by Daria Dugina at the "Eurasian Congress of Philosophers" 17.02.2024

In the realm of ideology in Russia, we are presented with the following scenario.

A few words should be said about the socio-cultural situation in Russian society that developed in the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, and in our time at the beginning of the 20th century.

To effectively confront the West in the war of civilisations that Russia is already waging, it is necessary to take into account the hierarchy of plans.

Contemporary social science in Russia needs to catch up in understanding the changes occurring in the country and in forming a sovereign worldview, and it needs to be accelerated, philosopher Alexander Dugin told journalists at the 5th Congress of the Russian Society of Political Scientists in Svetlogorsk (Kaliningrad region).

Alexander Dugin discusses Tucker Carlson’s visit to Russia, highlighting its political implications for patriotic American conservatives and leftists alike in their unified challenge against globalist liberalism.

Alexander Dugin discusses Vladimir Putin’s Munich speech in 2010 as a historic turning point, asserting Russia’s rejection of a unipolar world and advocating a multipolar global framework that acknowledges Russia’s sovereignty and geopolitical interests.

Let us start with the simpler part: Russia. Here, Tucker Carlson has become a focal point for two polar opposites within Russian society: ideological patriots and elite Westernisers who nonetheless remain loyal to Putin and the Special Military Operation. For patriots, Tucker Carlson is simply ‘one of us’. He is a traditionalist, a right-wing conservative, and a staunch opponent of liberalism. This is what twenty-first-century emissaries to the Russian tsar look like.

In 1924, the leaders of the Soviet state, including Stalin himself, were still fully convinced that the success of the USSR was only the first step of a pan-European revolutionary process. Already in May 1924, Stalin wrote in the pamphlet “The Foundations of Leninism”:

In America, the birthplace of pragmatism, pragmatism has vanished. The globalists, especially under the Biden regime, represent an extreme form of a globalist dictatorship, severing ties with the typically American tradition established by Charles Peirce and William James. 

In Russia, the year 2024 has been proclaimed the Year of the Family. Clearly, in this area, things are quite dire for us. The alarming rates of divorce, abortion, and declining birth rates represent a national catastrophe. If we take the Year of the Family seriously, relying on the classics (but not the liberal or communist ones, as they are likely to advise something that will only hasten the disintegration of the family), we should simultaneously return to our roots and take a step forward.

We turn to the topic of Soviet-Marxist philosophy.

Chaadaev’s philosophical, spiritual emigration was developed and embodied in the poetry and personal fate of an even more extreme Westernizer, the ideal archetype for this movement, Vladimir Sergeevich Pecherin (1807–1885). Pecherin was a Westernizer from his earliest youth. Here is how he wrote about this himself in correspondence with Fedor Vasilyevich Chizhov:

At the moment of the Baptism of the Lord in the River Jordan, the Old Testament ends and the New Testament begins.

The main issue in 2024 remains the same fundamental problem as before: the confrontation between two waves — the waning wave of a unipolar world order with US hegemony and the collective West, and the rising wave of a multipolar world, embodied in BRICS-10.

This year, the West is anticipating revolutions.

Another Russian thinker belonging to the late Slavophiles was Nikolai Yakovlevich Danilevsky (1822-1885). Danilevsky came from a line of high-ranking aristocrats. His father was a general. He was not a professional philosopher, focusing primarily on natural science, in particular, botany. In his fundamental work Russia and Europe,17 Danilevsky approaches the fundamental position of the plurality of civilizations or, as he puts it, “cultural-historical types.”

The Fourth Political Theory, upon recognising its preliminarily outlined structures, could become more systematic and detailed by examining some fundamentally important doctrines, schools, and figures for political philosophy. For instance, let us consider Hegel.

The starting point in their theories should be recognized precisely as the thought of Sophia - sophiology. You could even say that they considered Orthodoxy through sophiology, and not vice versa. This is fundamental; it allows you to clearly identify in their motivation the archaic principle itself, breaking through to the surface from under the tightening and painful fetters of focus B, imitating European rationalism.