Equating the other with evil: what russkii mir and right-wing populism have in common

Abstract

This essay explores the concept of evil in right-wing populism and the ideology of the Russian World (russkii mir) ideology. At face value, right-wing ideology and the russki mir ideology may seem very different. They currently have different expressions in Ukraine, especially as the idea of the Russian World is used to window-dress Putin’s geo-political aggression. At the root however, right-wing populism and the Russian World ideology share something that is deeply problematic: namely, that these ideologies equate the other with evil. This article has built on conversations at the conference “Christian Identity in National, Transnational and Local Space: Perspectives from Protestantism, Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism” held at the University of Oxford, 4-5 April 2022. This conference is part of the Protestant Political Thought project, sponsored by the Harold C. Smith Foundation.