It is symbolic that the most enduring legacy of the Soviet Union on the African continent is the Kalashnikov pattern rifle.

Putin’s worldview owes less to apocalyptic fascisms like Nazism than to his experiences as a young man working in the Soviet intelligence service. At base, he is a conservative whose heart belongs more to the Soviet 1970s than to Imperial Russia.

In many ways, Putin’s regime meets the expanded definition of fascism. In recent years, Russian public discourse has become increasingly nationalistic, with Putin positioning Russia as a singular civilization locked in a decisive struggle with a decadent, materialistic, and debauched “West.”