One of the interesting aspects of Russian self-definition in opposition to the West is its attitude toward Western science. Russian distrust of scientific and technological progress in the West is an important force shaping contemporary Russian identity. This article touches on these issues in four parts. The first section characterizes two main conservative circles that are active in today's disputes over the significance of scientific development for Russian identity. The second demonstrates certain Russian contemporary concerns related to scientific and technological progress, which will enable us to explain the position of the Russian Orthodox Church. The third section presents the political, religious, and identity context for the suspicion toward science expressed by Russian conservatives. The final section, on the other hand, discusses the way in which Russian Orthodox neoconservatism uses Orthodox anthropology to raise suspicion toward scientific and technological achievements.

This article aims to analyze religious and mystical elements contained in Putin’s public statements by referring to selected examples characteristic of contemporary Russian identity politics. In order to demonstrate the importance of religious and mystical threads in Putin’s speeches, we chose five specific cases. The analysis of these statements indicates that religious and mystical motifs in Putin’s language are an attempt at self-creation for the purpose of domestic policy. We claim that this self-creation is more of an effort to strengthen Putin’s public support than proof that he borrows patterns for shaping Russia’s political life from the Russian religious and political tradition. Putin’s rhetoric is not so much a desire for an axiological renewal of Russian politics but an attempt to search for the new legitimization of the power system he created in confrontation with the West.

The article aims to describe the civilizational aspect of the State of Israel in the historiosophic and geopolitical thought of Aleksandr G. Dugin, who is considered the most influential and controversial representative of modern Russian neo-conservatism. Firstly, the article presents the intellectual and political context of Dugin’s intellectual evolution. Secondly, it shows the role of the State of Israel in the conflict of civilizations. Thirdly, it describes Dugin’s interpretation of the cul-tural and civilizational identity of the State of Israel and its geopolitical conse-quences. 

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