The book that best explains Putin's insanity

"The Third Empire" is an ethno-nationalist nightmare and the Kremlin loves it

The horrifying war on Ukraine doesn’t make sense — not politically, not financially, not in terms of anything resembling ethics or morals or basic decency.

However, a 2006 book, “The Third Empire. What Russia must become,” basically predicted the war as it first began in 2014 and how it escalated dramatically just last week. The book was written by a pro-Kremlin businessman and politician who, ironically or, maybe, fittingly, did a lot of business in the States.

As the wonderful scholar Maria Snegovaya pointed out back in 2014, insofar as the Kremlin has an ideology, this book is it (link in Russian).

Even if you do read Russian, I don’t recommend you get the book. First of all, it will break your brain, and second of all, you don’t want your credit card information on some sketchy Russian site right now.

I took one for the team, however, and here are some highlights:

The title references a third incarnation of Russia:

The first empire is the original Russian Empire. The second empire is the Soviet Empire. The third empire is the “utopian” vision of our totally normal, not at all unhinged author.

The third empire begins as a consolidation of “historic Russian lands”

Just as the real Vladimir Putin, the original fictional ruler, also named Vladimir, at first pretends that imperialism doesn’t interest him. He builds up Russia financially and makes his move when the West is at a low point. Seem familiar?

Ukraine is the flashpoint

In the book, Ukraine is partitioned after a kind of “fake revolution,” staged by the West, triggers a Russian standoff with NATO. In real life, U.S. intelligence has long been bringing up a partition plan by Putin. It has now stalled, because Putin is looney tunes, the Russian army is demoralized, and fantasies of swift military action can differ wildly from reality when you surround yourself with yes-men and believe your own propaganda — but still.

Other “historic lands” are then gathered, and a Russian Union swelling with over 200 million people is created.

Following a new cold war, the Third Empire defeats and occupies the United States

I’ll spare you the plot details, but revanchism is key. In the book, Russia makes the United States pay dearly for past humiliation — both real and perceived. This part reads like the diary of an angry, sweat-damp teenager, plotting revenge against dudes from the lacrosse team who get all the girls.

Europe is taken over

This happens because Russia “must never again” be “threatened” by the West. Again, I’ll spare you the fever dream details, but there is quite a lot of revenge against perceived slights and bloodletting and “look what you made me do, Europe!”

The Third Empire is ethno-nationalist

Who you are by blood is extremely important to the author — and obviously, Russians are at the top of the new food chain (if you think that this doesn’t have echoes of Nazi Germany, you’re touchingly naive).

People from the Baltic lands are described as “wild” and “backwards” and, crucially, “ungrateful,” for example.

Descriptions like this are common. The author keeps coming back to the “ingratitude” of peoples who must be destroyed or stripped of all rights or thrown down the well like in the Borat song — rebellious Ukrainians included.

The author borrows from the legacy of Ivan the Terrible

Simply ripping off the Nazis would involve too much copy-pasting from the hated West. Therefore, the author reaches back in time, to Ivan the Terrible’s ruthless bodyguard corps, the Oprichnina (its members are referred to as Oprichniki). These are the new elite enforcers of the Third Empire.

Ironically, the original Oprichniki were piss-poor fighters, only good at murdering, looting, and raping civilians who couldn’t resist them, but this doesn’t deter the author. What matters is the “Russianness” of the idea behind the Oprichnina.

If you’ve read anything about Ivan the Terrible and the society he created, you know just how much the author needed therapy

Is this insane? Yes. That’s precisely why we should take notice

I’ve long argued that the Kremlin elites don’t have much of an ideology — aside from money. But at the same time, Putin has always wanted to leave his mark on history. As he’s grown older, he’s grown more radicalized (think, “Old man yells at mushroom cloud!”) — he’s been rumored to be a fan of this crazy book long before the recent war — and 2014 was just the beginning.

This man has a dark and disturbing vision — not just for Ukraine, but for us all. Ukraine could never be enough for him, it doesn’t satisfy his lust for revenge against the West.

I don’t think most Russian elites share this twisted vision — you have to really be tripping balls for it to make sense — and much may depend on them in the weeks and/or months to come, but we should also be wary of how Putin will behave if he is reduced to the status of cornered rat. Attempting a tactical nuclear strike is not out of the question for him, as he doesn’t know how to lose — what could save us is if his orders are not going to be followed.

Watch this space and thank you for reading!