Is Putin a fascist? Let’s go to the three elements in the definition and see:
- REACTIONARY: Putin unquestionably plays one on TV. The fact that he waited about ten years to emerge as one suggests that his stance is far more opportunistic than truly ideological, and is mostly for foreign consumption. Daily life in Russia doesn’t look like something out of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The record here is mixed.
- NATIONALISM: Check. Bring back the Russian Empire! Make Russia great again! Just ask the Ukrainians, Georgians, and Syrians.
- EXTRACONSTITUTIONAL MEANS: Putin rigs elections, maintains control over the mass media, uses law enforcement and the judiciary for political purposes, and murders his opponents when he thinks it necessary. On the other hand, the constitution remains in place, and he occasionally shows it some lingering respect by trying to amend it or working around it. In short, while Russia is hardly a liberal democratic state in practice, it retains some of the forms of one.
On balance, I would call him a fascist rather than an illiberal democrat, but it is a debatable point. We will know more when he finally leaves office; a successful fascist is a harder act to follow than an illiberal democrat.