par Anton Shekhovtsov
Both recent and the upcoming elections in Europe mark some of the biggest political gains by far-right parties in decades. Campaigning on nationalist, anti-immigrants and anti-Muslim platforms, far-right parties have turned fears of an economic downturn and a growing sense of lost national identity into real political movements across Europe.
There’s one international actor who benefits particularly from the rise of these parties in the EU, and that is Putin’s Russia. In his recent book Russia and the Western Far Right: Tango Noir, Anton Shekhovtsov retraces the contacts between Russian political actors and Western far right activists since 1990s. The book shows that Moscow has more recently begun to support particular far right political forces to gain leverage on European politics and undermine the liberal-democratic consensus in the West.
What is behind the strategy of securing legitimation of Putin’s regime? What are the impacts of Russia’s information warfare and propaganda on Europe? To what extent do western far right parties and activists benefit from the support of the Russian state? Join our panel of experts to discuss these important questions.

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Description :
The growing influence of Russia on the Western far right has been much discussed in the media recently. This book is the first detailed inquiry into what has been a neglected but critically important trend: the growing links between Russian actors and Western far right activists, publicists, ideologues, and politicians. The author uses a range of sources including interviews, video footage, leaked communications, official statements and press coverage in order to discuss both historical and contemporary Russia in terms of its relationship with the Western far right.
Initial contacts between Russian political actors and Western far right activists were established in the early 1990s, but these contacts were low profile. As Moscow has become more anti-Western, these contacts have become more intense and have operated at a higher level. The book shows that the Russian establishment was first interested in using the Western far right to legitimise Moscow’s politics and actions both domestically and internationally, but more recently Moscow has begun to support particular far right political forces to gain leverage on European politics and undermine the liberal-democratic consensus in the West.
Contributing to ongoing scholarly debates about Russia’s role in the world, its strategies aimed at securing legitimation of Putin’s regime both internationally and domestically, modern information warfare and propaganda, far right politics and activism in the West, this book draws on theories and methods from history, political science, area studies, and media studies and will be of interest to students, scholars, activists and practitioners in these areas.

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Full interview with Dr. Anton Shekhovtsov on his book "Russia and the Western Far Right: Tango Noir". Dr. Shekhovtsov is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria, 20 September 2017.