Sergey Karaganov is one of Russia’s most prominent political scientists and a founding member of the Valdai Discussion Club, which Vladimir Putin has attended regularly for more than two decades. In a recent report, subtitled “The Ideological Foundations of Russia as a Civilizational State,” Karaganov lays out his argument for introducing a state ideology and indoctrinating Russians from childhood in a new “Citizen’s Code”[…]
In 2023, Karaganov published an article proposing a preemptive tactical nuclear strike on a NATO member, such as Poland[…]
At the heart of Karaganov’s new report is a clear assertion: Russia needs a national ideology. “We need a guide”[…]This forward-looking ideology should be backed by the state. It should be instilled in children[…]Without a unifying idea[…]the nation and its people face inevitable stagnation and eventual decline

Russia’s constitution explicitly prohibits state ideology. Article 13 asserts that “no ideology may be established as official or mandatory”[…]Karaganov proposes a workaround. Rather than rewriting the law, he argues, the government could simply rebrand a state ideology as a “living dream for the country”[…]
Karaganov’s report describes Russia as a “civilizational state”[…]
Karaganov goes further than his fellow ideologues. He casts Russia as an “Asian empire,” in the company of China and India, and argues that classical electoral democracy is harmful to Russia’s political system[…]
According to Karaganov, Russia’s optimal governance model is “strong leadership democracy,” supported by a “powerful leader” and backed by a strong and patriotic meritocratic elite[…]
Karaganov criticizes Westerners for “individualism” and a “cult of consumerism” that he claims is imposed by “globalist elites”[…]
In Karaganov’s view, Russia can oppose this “cult” with the “sobornost” (collectivism) its citizens who serve “the people, the country, the state, its embodiment — the leader — and God, if a person believes in him”