janMar 1, 2025
…Russian leaders protected themselves and their wealth by exporting it. The oligarch-in-chief, Vladimir Putin, chose the fascist philosopher Ivan Ilyin [1883–1954] as a guide.
—Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom
#putin #ivanilyin #ilyin
Show threadjan
In the 2010s, Putin relied upon [Ivan] Ilyin’s authority to explain why Russia had to undermine the European Union and invade Ukraine. When asked to name a historian, Putin cited Ilyin as his authority on the past.
—Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom
#putin #ilyin #ivanilyin
Mar 1, 2025 at 4:10pmWeb
Show threadjanMar 1, 2025
[Ivan] Ilyin [1883–1954] first proposed his ideas to Russians a century ago, after the Russian Revolution. And yet he has become a philosopher for our time. No thinker of the twentieth century has been rehabilitated in such grand style in the twenty-first, nor enjoyed such influence on world politics.
—Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom
#ivanilyin #ilyin #putin
Show threadjanMar 5, 2025
Asked by students of history to name a historical authority, Putin could only think of one name: Ivan Ilyin. Now, Ilyin was many things, but he was no historian.
—Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom
#putin #ilyin
Show threadjanMar 5, 2025
…[Ivan] Ilyin rejected the rule of law in favor of the arbitrariness—proizvol—of fascism. Having given up hope that Russia could be governed by law, he presented lawlessness (proizvol) as a patriotic virtue. Putin followed the same trajectory, citing Ilyin as his authority.
—Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom
#ilyin #putin #fascism