 | |
| Formation | September 2012 |
|---|---|
| Type | think tank |
| Headquarters | Russia,Moscow,Frunzenskaya Embankment, 18, office VI |
| Membership | 27 |
| Leader | Alexander Prokhanov |
TheIzborsky Club is a Russian conservativethink tank[1] which specializes in studyingRussia's foreign anddomestic policy.
It was founded by publicistAlexander Prokhanov in September 2012 and includes several well-knownnationalist andtraditionalist intellectuals in Russia.[2][3]
The Izborsky club was created by a group of Russian intellectuals[citation needed] in September 2012 amidst celebration of the 1,150th anniversary of the city ofIzborsk with support from Pskov regional governorAndrey Turchak. The writerAlexander Prokhanov was elected chairman of the club, andVitaly Averyanov [ru] andAlexander Alekseevich Nagorny [ru] were elected executive secretaries.[4] According to German political scientist Andreas Umland, the club includes an ultra-conservative flank of supporters of Russian PresidentVladimir Putin.[2]
The organization took its name from thePskov village ofIzborsk near the border withEstonia, where its first meeting took place on the eve of its 1,150th anniversary celebration.[5] The club's meetings, according to official information on its website, were held in Yekaterinburg, Ulyanovsk, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Bryansk, Belgorod, Tula, Kaluga, Omsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Donetsk and other cities, as well as in Yakutia, Dagestan and in Crimea. Field meetings of the club were held in Transnistria (Moldova), Syria, Serbia, China, Iran and other countries.
Since 2013, the Izborsky Club has published an eponymous magazine with 1,200-copy circulation.
In 2015, the organization received a 10 million ruble presidential grant for non-profit organizations. The project's description stated that the organization would attempt to explain "what is theRussian world".[6]
The Izborsky club's main tasks include:[4]
Among the club's activities is reconciling historical eras and synthesis of the best that was in them.[citation needed]
Shortly after its founding, on January 9, 2013, the Izborsky Club issued the "Ulyanovsk Declaration" with an appeal to all patriots:
As a means of averting an impending catastrophe, we call on all statesmen who value the future of Russia to act as a united patriotic, imperial front that opposes the liberal globalization ideology and its adherents, who act in the interests of our geopolitical enemies. The most important aspect of our unity is a correct understanding of the current difficult situation. Russia needs a fusion of two powerful energies that grow out of the "red" and "white" ideologies of Russian patriotism. This merger implies introducing into the structure and system of the state of a powerful element of social justice, which is inherited from the USSR, and a return to the Orthodox-Christian spirituality and universality of traditional Russia. Such a synthesis will make our country and state invincible, and will make it possible to offer humanity a universal path of social development based on the experience of Russian civilization.[7]
The organization has significant financial resources and connections in the Kremlin. Its meetings were attended by the Minister of Culture of the Russian FederationVladimir Medinsky, governors of many regions and presidents of national republics (Yakutia, Dagestan, Chechnya). It is believed that the Izborsky Club reflects the views of the conservative members of the Russian elite.[8]
The club has an official publisher of literature: the publishing house "Knizhny Mir".[9][10]
The activities and ideals of the Izborsky Club were subjected to severe criticism from the leading researcher of theRussian Institute of Strategic StudiesPeter Multatuli [ru] :[11]
The ideology of the "Izbortsy" can be called by the name of their chairmanAlexander Prokhanov - "Prokhanovism", as the Bolsheviks liked to give such definitions. This phenomenon is extremely dangerous precisely because of its conciliation, an attempt to connect the incompatible, white with black, God with the devil. "Prokhanovshchina" is much more dangerous than the overt communist and radical leftist ideology ... Prokhanov wants to unite executioners and victims, destroyers and creators, revolutionaries and guardians. An attempt to unite good and evil is the most dangerous basis of "Prokhanovism".
Publicist Elena Chudinova criticizes the Izborsky Club, believing that its members adhere to isolationist views.[12]
In May 2015, by order of the Izborsky Club, the “ReigningIcon of the Mother of God” was made, on which, together withJoseph Stalin, Soviet marshals were depicted. The presentation took place during the awarding of the Prokhorovskoye Pole literary prize in theBelgorod Region. Alexander Prokhanov compared the Soviet historical figure toMoses andMao Zedong, calling hima victorious leader, a leader with a flag of victory. Authors of the article on bbc.com, Mikhail Poplavsky and Olga Alisova, reported that the Belgorod Metropolis denied involvement in the divine service on the Prokhorovsky field and spoke out against defining the image as an icon, since the people appearing on it were not canonized as saints.[13] At the same time, the icon does not violate the canons of the Church,[14] insofar as these characters are not depicted as saints - without halos, and are located under the omophorion (protection) of the Virgin. In June, Alexander Prokhanov presented the icon in the Saratov region, which again led to a negative reaction from the local Orthodox diocese.[15]
According to the club, its members include :[16]
On June 14, 2014, inDonetsk, on the territory of the self-proclaimedDonetsk People's Republic, a branch of the Izborsky Club, theIzborsky Club of Novorossiya [ru] was opened and its first meeting was held, attended byMiroslav Rudenko [ru],Andrey Purgin,Pavel Gubarev, Dmitry Muza, Sergey Baryshnikov, Father Iona (Kovalev) and Kirill Cherkashin. The public figure of the Donetsk People's Republic, Pavel Gubarev, said that "The club will include well-known experts, doctors of science, candidates of science who will help solve the state problems of Novorossia".[17] Donetsk historian Artyom Olkhin was elected as the executive secretary of the club. According to Gubarev, initiative to create belonged to the head of the Izborsky club,Alexander Prokhanov.[18]
