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David Brandenberger provides, in his recent Nationalities Paper discussion paper "Stalin's populism and the accidental creation of Russian national identity" an interesting and plausible argument. However, his article contains several, to my view, controversial and unconvincing assumptions which is why I would like to add the below critical remarks to those already made by David R. Marples and Andreas Umland.

In Osteuropa, Alexander J. Motyl presented his thesis that Russia is a fascist state -- or at least on the way to becoming one. This is untenable. Key features of German and Italian fascism such as a comprehensive ideology or the glorification of violence are alien to the bureaucratic-authoritarian regime that has been established under Putin. Anybody who subsumes the Putin regime under the term fascism runs the risk of failing to recognise the threat posed by real Russian fascism. Adapted from the source document.