Carl Schmitt in the Kremlin: Germany, Russia and the Return of Geopolitics

Abstract

The protracted crisis in Ukraine has exposed fundamental differences between Germany, Western Europe and Russia. Basic assumptions about the key concepts in international affairs, such as the meaning of sovereignty, the relevance of geopolitics, or the very nature of the political have been challenged by Putin's Russia. It is poignant that to advance our understanding of this new constellation we are well served to turn to the insights of a classic, if hugely controversial, German political thinker, Carl Schmitt. Schmitt's political philosophy is relevant in two respects. Firstly, as a source of inspiration - even if only indirectly - for the contemporary Russian political establishment. Secondly, as a point of departure for reflecting on the possibility of Europe's more robust response to the Russian intervention in Ukraine.There are striking similarities, for example, between the ideological underpinnings of Russia's new imperialist project, which is directed against the West, and the anti-Western sentiments popular especially amongst intellectuals in Germany between the two wars. To put it provocatively, today's Russia is challenging the German leadership of Europe with the help of German ideas of yesteryear. For example, Dugin's ideology of Eurasia, which serves as a cover for Russia's imperial ambitions, resonates strongly with Schmitt's polemical writings defending continental European culture and civilisation against the onslaught of hostile forces of liberalism. The key argument of my paper is that Europe and Germany ought to reclaim geopolitics for their own purposes in order to effectively challenge Putin's Russia.