International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Putinism - a new form of fascism?

Ilya Budraitskis — 2026-04-12T10:23:14Z

The invasion of Ukraine has provoked debate on the nature of contemporary Russian society. It has been argued that Russia's war on Ukraine is part of an attack on democracy taking place globally, that Putin's Russia part of a growing authoritarianism.

- Features / Russia, Fascism

Why Russia's ruling class is obsessed with the West

Ilya Budraitskis — 2026-02-12T12:46:03Z

Vladimir Putin and his ruling elite are obsessed with the West “which is simultaneously seen as both the main adversary and the only potential partner”, […] that obsession has “its roots in the reactionary legacy of the Russian Empire”.

- Features / Russia

“For the Neofascists, the Law of the Jungle is the Only One That Makes Sense”

Gilbert Achcar , Ilya Budraitskis — 2025-08-07T11:27:27Z

Where did the “global neofascist axis” come from, and where is it going? What destabilizing effects might Russia's war in Ukraine have? Ilya Budraitskis and Gilbert Achcar discuss the current conjuncture

- Features / Russia, Ukraine, Fascism

“Ukraine's Fate Raises the Issue of the Rights and Sovereignty of Small States”

Ilya Budraitskis — 2025-05-27T09:24:52Z

Ilya Budraitskis, historian and author, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the most important voices of Russian left-wing intellectual thought, speaks to "Epochi" about the imperialist logic that governs the talks between the USA and Russia regarding the end of the war in Ukraine, the objectives of both sides, and the stance of the Russian Left towards a potential peace agreement.

- Features / Russia, Ukraine

“The crisis of liberal hegemony is the reason why so many Europeans are turning to the extreme right”

Ilya Budraitskis, Philipp Schmid — 2025-05-19T08:41:13Z

Exiled Russian political scientist and activist Ilya Budraitskis explains the causes of the rise of the extreme right, the goals of the new fascists, and what lessons the radical left should draw from the 20th century for the fight against fascism. He makes a few suggestions for where anti-fascist politics could begin today in this interview by Philipp Schmid (BFS Zürich) first published in Sozialismus.ch.

- Features / Germany, Russia, Far Right

“For the Neofascists, the Law of the Jungle is the Only One That Makes Sense”

Gilbert Achcar , Ilya Budraitskis — 2025-05-15T12:23:09Z

- IVP604 - May 2025 / United States (USA), Russia, China

Why have people of Georgia massively risen up against the Government?

Ashley Smith, Ilya Budraitskis — 2025-01-04T16:33:52Z

What do the protests mean for the left in Georgia and internationally? Posle and Tempest talk to Georgian activists and scholars about Georgia's mass protests

- IVP600 - January 2025 / Georgia

Terrorist Attack and Election Pave Way for Putin to Intensify Repression and War

Ashley Smith, Ilya Budraitskis — 2024-04-01T12:38:00Z

“We should be clear that Putin took the decision to launch this invasion very seriously and is determined not to stop until he achieves his stated goals — the elimination of Ukraine as an independent nation-state and the imposition of a puppet government in Kyiv. If he does not achieve these goals, he will view it as a defeat, something he is not willing to accept.”

- IV591 - April 2024 / Russia

Alexei Navalny Taught Russia's Opposition How to Mobilize

Ilya Budraitskis — 2024-02-21T17:33:00Z

Alexei Navalny's movement attempted a kind of mass mobilization rare among earlier liberal dissidents. He resisted the effort to stifle Russian society — an act of defiance for which he was killed.

- IV589 - February 2024 / Russia

Resisting Russian Imperialism: 2 Socialists—a Ukrainian and a Russian—on Ukraine's Struggle for Self-Determination

Ashley Smith, Hanna Perekhoda, Ilya Budraitskis — 2023-09-08T19:36:00Z

An interview with Hanna Perekhoda and Ilya Budraitskis.

- IV584 - September 2023 / Russia, Ukraine