Dugin has been dubbed ‘Putin’s brain’ and ‘Putin’s Rasputin’ by the anglophone press for his supposed influence on the worldview of President Vladimir Putin and the country’s ruling elite. Foreign Policy magazine included him in its 2014 ‘Global Thinkers’ list “for masterminding Russia’s expansionist ideology.”

However, the reality is that he‘s not influential in the Kremlin. Nor is he even a mainstream figure in Moscow. Instead, he‘s become a totem for ultra-nationalist campaigners, most of whom believe President Vladimir Putin is too moderate in his foreign policy.

Thus, Dugin has become a curious anomaly: famous in the West, but a fringe figure at home.