Nafeez Ahmed

They work really closely, got really close ties with another bunch of right-wing organizations, pretty mainstream here in the UK. You've heard of, people might have heard of the Tufton Street Network. Yes. So you got like the Institute for Economic Affairs, which is one of their biggest ones. They're very closely linked.

They work really closely, got really close ties with another bunch of right-wing organizations, pretty mainstream here in the UK. You've heard of, people might have heard of the Tufton Street Network. Yes. So you got like the Institute for Economic Affairs, which is one of their biggest ones. They're very closely linked.

Both these organizations are part of this wider right-wing network called the Atlas Network. That network was founded by this guy, Sir Anthony Fisher. What was really weird is that all of these guys, this whole nexus of people, I traced them back and found that many of them were heavily influenced by another murky group called the Pioneer Fund. Now, the Pioneer Fund was a New York foundation.

Both these organizations are part of this wider right-wing network called the Atlas Network. That network was founded by this guy, Sir Anthony Fisher. What was really weird is that all of these guys, this whole nexus of people, I traced them back and found that many of them were heavily influenced by another murky group called the Pioneer Fund. Now, the Pioneer Fund was a New York foundation.

It was actually a pro-Nazi foundation with very strong ties to the real Nazis in Germany in the 1930s. Now, obviously, the Pioneer Fund also kind of had to go underground after the defeat of the Nazis, but they continued to operate. And one of the fascinating things they did was work really hard to infiltrate mainstream right-wing organizations. And they did it through this lens of anti-communism.

It was actually a pro-Nazi foundation with very strong ties to the real Nazis in Germany in the 1930s. Now, obviously, the Pioneer Fund also kind of had to go underground after the defeat of the Nazis, but they continued to operate. And one of the fascinating things they did was work really hard to infiltrate mainstream right-wing organizations. And they did it through this lens of anti-communism.

There were some problems. There was a Cold War going on. But they worked to exaggerate that to such a point. And they labeled minorities, Black people, Jews, and increasingly, you know, even Muslims as agents of this kind of left-wing colossal conspiracy. And it kind of metamorphosed from there.

There were some problems. There was a Cold War going on. But they worked to exaggerate that to such a point. And they labeled minorities, Black people, Jews, and increasingly, you know, even Muslims as agents of this kind of left-wing colossal conspiracy. And it kind of metamorphosed from there.

So that's a really good question. And I think often this is understood. It's misunderstood because there's an assumption that everyone in this network has to have the same ideas, exactly the same views, and it's not the case. So how does Putin fit into that? The pattern is kind of really simple. It converges on this idea that,

So that's a really good question. And I think often this is understood. It's misunderstood because there's an assumption that everyone in this network has to have the same ideas, exactly the same views, and it's not the case. So how does Putin fit into that? The pattern is kind of really simple. It converges on this idea that,

that in order for Russia to survive and thrive, they need to essentially dismantle the sinews of Western power, because they see these key structures that have been created after the Second World War, like NATO, as a fundamental threat to Russia. So what do we do? We need to dismantle NATO somehow, but how do we do that? To actually talk about fostering culture wars. One of the most well-known

that in order for Russia to survive and thrive, they need to essentially dismantle the sinews of Western power, because they see these key structures that have been created after the Second World War, like NATO, as a fundamental threat to Russia. So what do we do? We need to dismantle NATO somehow, but how do we do that? To actually talk about fostering culture wars. One of the most well-known

kind of theoreticians, Alexander Dugin. He wrote like a book that was distributed to kind of Russian military general staff. It's widely read, really influential. And he actually talks about this, this big grand plan of dismantling Western institutions using different groups and ideas. And so they wanted to essentially smash liberal ideas They want to undermine democracy.

kind of theoreticians, Alexander Dugin. He wrote like a book that was distributed to kind of Russian military general staff. It's widely read, really influential. And he actually talks about this, this big grand plan of dismantling Western institutions using different groups and ideas. And so they wanted to essentially smash liberal ideas They want to undermine democracy.

They see democracy itself as fundamentally decadent and problematic. And as a problem, we need to destroy it. And within that framework, working with far-right groups makes a lot of sense. And it's not about whether you agree with them or disagree with them. It's just about how they work. Because if you have all these far-right groups who are saying, well, we're really Eurosceptic.

They see democracy itself as fundamentally decadent and problematic. And as a problem, we need to destroy it. And within that framework, working with far-right groups makes a lot of sense. And it's not about whether you agree with them or disagree with them. It's just about how they work. Because if you have all these far-right groups who are saying, well, we're really Eurosceptic.

We don't like the European Union. We want to break it all apart. And we want to be very nationalist.

We don't like the European Union. We want to break it all apart. And we want to be very nationalist.

and we want to fight all of this and have everyone fighting amongst themselves the more we're tearing each other down that's great for Putin because he's like well you guys are at each other's throats while you guys are fighting it out we're going to move forward we're going to expand into Ukraine we're going to go further than that and there are lots of documents which reveal these long-standing plans to kind of resurrect the Russian empire so to speak

and we want to fight all of this and have everyone fighting amongst themselves the more we're tearing each other down that's great for Putin because he's like well you guys are at each other's throats while you guys are fighting it out we're going to move forward we're going to expand into Ukraine we're going to go further than that and there are lots of documents which reveal these long-standing plans to kind of resurrect the Russian empire so to speak