The Rise of the 'Traditionalist International': How the American Right Learned to Love Moscow in the Era of Trump. Following the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, two American contingents appeared to stand ascendant in the U.

S.: white nationalists and the Religious Right. The former, ideological descendants of the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow- era legislators, would like to return white supremacy to both state and federal law—or, barring that, break off part of the U. S. to form a white ethno- state wholesale. The latter, meanwhile, would allow Christian fundamentalism to become the U. S.’s de jure national religion, with attendant legislation targeting LGBT and minority religious communities alike. Both white nationalists and the Religious Right tossed vociferous support behind Trump’s candidacy during the recent presidential election, and both contingents thrilled at Trump’s unexpected victory, as well as the authoritarian bent he’s quickly brought to the executive branch. However, Trump is not the sole leader that both of these cohorts vocally support.

Indeed, for America’s white nationalists and for many within the Religious Right, there is only one country, and one leader, worth emulating. Rather than model their goals solely on a glorified Confederate past or lavish praise only on defeated fascist regimes in Europe, the figureheads of America’s far- right have found a new lodestar in Moscow. The examples of far- right Americans praising the Kremlin are as myriad as they are obvious.

For Richard Spencer, the coiner of the term “Alt- Right” and a leader of the emerging white nationalist faction it represents, Russia is both the “sole” and “most powerful white power in the world.” Matthew Heimbach, head of the white nationalist Traditionalist Worker Party—and someone who, like Spencer, desires the creation of a whites- only nation- state within the U. S.—believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is the “leader of the free world,” one who has helped morph Russia into an “axis for nationalists.” Harold Covington, the white supremacist head of the secessionist Northwest Front, recently described Russia as the “last great White empire.” And former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard David Duke has said he believes Russia holds the “key to white survival.”Of course, the idea of Russia as some sort of “white empire” is, to an extent, merely a fantasy held by American and European white supremacists. Not only does Russia routinely jail and sideline the most outspoken members of its domestic white supremacist movements, but Putin routinely offers support to Russia’s ethnic and religious minority communities when it suits his political aims. Nonetheless, over the past few years the Kremlin has increased both rhetorical and financial support for far- right movements across the West, including in the U. S. These movements encompass a wide range of right- wing ideologies, such as the white nationalists who have seen Kremlin- tied organizations provide everything from official backing to logistical support for trans- Atlantic networking in order to bring like- minded bigots together. Watch Two Moon Junction HD 1080P on this page. The Kremlin, through financing and conferences, has also built up ties with America’s Religious Right, whose leaders, despite rejecting the overtly race- based visions of individuals like Spencer, share white nationalists’ admiration for Russia’s authoritarian ruler.

At the moment, any financial links between the Kremlin and America’s white nationalist and Religious Right contingents remain minimal, or obscured through assorted third parties. But the organizational support the Kremlin has lent to these groups remains both under- studied and underappreciated—even as, over the past few years, it has noticeably increased.

In this report, we use the term “white nationalism” to describe the American movement that would seek, either via secession or changes in policy, to re- impose explicit white supremacy in all or part of the country. This group includes those like Heimbach, Spencer, and Covington, who all propose cleaving off swaths of the U.

Editor's note: This story was nominated as one of the best magazine feature stories of 2017 by the American Society of Magazine Editors. To learn more about ASME and.

S. to create a whites- only state. We consider large segments of the “Alt- Right,” which melds racism, misogyny, and rank anti- Semitism with aggressive online trolling, to be a distinct but clearly related form of white nationalism.)Before detailing such admiration—and mutual support, financial and otherwise—between Russia and the U. S.’s far- right, it’s worth examining the appeal Moscow maintains with these right- wing movements.

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The Kremlin, most especially in Putin’s third term, has presented itself as a bulwark of so- called “traditional” values, including opposing LGBT rights, dissolving the barriers between church and state, and entrenching domestic dictatorship with tactics like fraudulent elections and the stigmatization of domestic activists who advocate for progressive legislation. Likewise, and despite Putin’s domestic support for minority constituencies, Moscow over the past few years has managed to create an image of itself abroad as a center for these values against a libertine West—of a white, Christian nation- state, undeterred by legal niceties, standing up against the nefarious forces of “religious tolerance” and “gay rights.” Even something like Russia’s annexation of Crimea—recognized by only a handful of dictatorships, including North Korea, Zimbabwe, and Kazakhstan—appeals to those members of the West’s far- right who view the illegal land- grab as a throwback of empire and expansion: of might making right.

To be sure, there are different avenues of Russia’s appeal for both the Religious Right and white nationalists in the U. S. For the American Religious Right, as detailed below, Putin is the foremost defender of nominally “traditional,” and nominally Christian, values. For white nationalists, Putin—via both his illiberalism and anti- Western bent—remains a political polestar, whose authoritarian model should be implemented within the U. S. And such support didn’t arise in a vacuum. Since he returned to the presidency in 2.

Putin has made a concerted effort to establish his country as a center for religious, especially Christian, conservatives throughout the world, most notably for those who oppose any legal or public support for same- sex relationships. This shift has taken the form of legislation that prioritizes the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church, that rolls back abortion rights, and that sidelines attempts within the LGBT community to obtain any kind of societal acceptance. Even Moscow’s ban on Americans adopting Russian children managed to gain support within the U. S.’s far- right, with anti- equality Christian activists praising Putin’s move as one that would prevent children from living with same- sex parents. Likewise, Putin’s attempts to distance himself from the West with this focus on “traditionalism” both mirror and reinforce the increasing geopolitical distance Moscow has created between itself and Western governments, as seen most explicitly with Russia’s ongoing occupation of Crimea. All the while, those close to the Kremlin have been expanding their outreach to members of Europe’s far- right, ranging from directing funding to France’s National Front party to inviting Hungary’s far- right Jobbik party to visit the Crimean peninsula, allowing the West’s far- right an opportunity to support Moscow’s claims to Ukraine’s peninsula.

Indeed, the burgeoning affinity within America’s far- right for Moscow parallels a phenomenon we’ve seen play out through Europe over the past few years. From far- right actors in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria, as well as neo- fascist contingents in Serbia and the United Kingdom—even extending to populist movements in countries like Italy and Germany—those among Europe’s most outspoken right- wing contingents carry an increasing affinity for Moscow.