Introducing Vatnipedia
Mapping the Global Red-Brown Web - A conceptual project to highlight the countless interactions between Vatniks
Imagine a Wikipedia of fringe conspiracies, where Putin-loving oligarchs, leftist anti-imperialists, hard-core fascists and libertarian tech bros all appear as nodes on the same graph. That’s Vatnipedia – a hypothetical encyclopedia and visual taxonomy of the “red-brown” ecosystem, making visible the bizarre alliances that unite the far right and far left under a shared hostility to liberal democracy. In the past century, similar third-positionist currents – an ideology that “rejects both capitalism and communism” in favor of supremacist nationalism (politicalresearch.org)– have repeatedly drawn together strange bedfellows. Today the pattern is back: from Russia’s Orthodox-nationalist media to Western anti-war leftists to radical libertarians, many actors meet on common terrain (against “globalist” enemies) even if their banners differ. Vatnipedia is proposed as a tool to chart these overlaps, expose common narratives, and (just possibly) have a laugh at the absurd coalitions along the way.
Why We Need Vatnipedia
History is full of “red-brown alliances” where Stalinists and Nazis, Trotskyists and Mussolini fans shook hands. Third-positionist fascists of the 20th century, for example, wanted a “third way” beyond liberal democracy – a vision of monocultural nation-states built on racial or religious supremacism (politicalresearch.org) (politicalresearch.org). White supremacists in the U.S. even tried recruiting from the left, portraying anti-capitalist rhetoric as their own (politicalresearch.org). Fast-forward to today, and the ghost of “Querfront” (cross-front) politics haunts us again. One can find Trotskyist veterans praising Vladimir Putin’s strongman tactics, and neo-Nazis quoting Marxist critiques of Western banks. The line between left and right blurs whenever everyone joins forces to, say, bash NATO or blame “the globalist elite.”
For example, take the Russian tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev. He runs Tsargrad TV, a pro-Kremlin channel explicitly “based on Orthodox principles” – as Malofeyev boasts, “in the same way as Fox News”. But Tsargrad’s guest list would surprise anyone expecting only Orthodox conservatives: it has hosted figures like Eurasianist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin and U.S. conspiracy-radio host Alex Jones. It’s not an isolated quirk. Malofeyev’s Russian network (including the Katehon think-tank) even appears as a partner of the World Congress of Families – a global anti-LGBT group – alongside outfits like the St. Basil Foundation. In other words, hard-right Christian socialists, Orthodox oligarchs and family-values crusaders all rub elbows under one umbrella. Vatnipedia would tag all of them (“Orthodox Conservative,” “Islamophobic,” etc.) and draw lines showing their funding and personnel links.
Meanwhile, on “our” side of the Atlantic, the conspiratorial far left also finds kinship with unlikely friends. Boris Kagarlitsky, once a dissident Marxist in the USSR, was even hosted by Britain’s Stop the War Coalition along with Tariq Ali and Lindsey German, two leading left-wing antiwar figures. Kagarlitsky himself quickly used that platform to praise the Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine, lauding the “Novorossiya” militias and whitewashing their fascist commanders. In other words, a veteran Kremlin critic and a British antiwar activist find themselves onstage together, united by a narrative of “US imperialism” – even if it means backing a Putin-allied warlord. Vatnipedia would record Kagarlitsky under “anti-globalist Marxist” and draw a connection to the Stop the War Coalition and even figures like Aymeric Chauprade (a French geopolitician who admires Putin).
Even the most unlikely ideological pairings emerge. American cult-leader Lyndon LaRouche (originating in Trotskyist sects) and Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin (father of Eurasianist ideology) seem totally different. Yet researchers note they share many common allies, even if they never formally unite. In practice, LaRouche’s publications and Dugin’s circles both pump out similar anti-Western conspiracies (e.g. blaming an “Anglo-Jewish oligarchy” for global chaos). A concrete example is economist Sergey Glazyev: an ally of both. Glazyev, once a Putin aide and Duma deputy, appears on the Katehon think-tank’s supervisory board alongside Dugin. (LaRoucheists also praise Glazyev as an anti-Yeltsin economist.) Vatnipedia would show Glazyev as a node linking “LaRouchist” and “Eurasian nationalist,” complete with notes on where he spoke.
Other illustrative nodes on the Vatnipedia map might include:
Thierry Meyssan and Michel Chossudovsky – two conspiracy publishers (Voltaire Network and Global Research) who trade content. For instance, Chossudovsky “was a Voltaire Network contributor” (Meyssan’s site) from 2009–2011. A user could click either name and see they co-publish about “New World Order” conspiracies and pro-Assad narratives.
Maga and QAnon influencers (e.g. Steve Bannon, Proud Boys) – who often echo the same anti-democratic, anti-elite memes as a subset of the antiwar left. (Cf. the 2016 “Unrig” campaign blending Bernie supporters and Trump backers against Hillary Clinton.)
Salafi-jihadi networks (e.g. Iran’s IRGC or Syria’s Assad government) who share anti-Israel and anti-US messaging with European far-right. (Even the unlikely World Congress of Families conference included representatives of Assad’s Syria alongside Eastern Orthodox clergy.)
By logging dozens of such examples – modern and historical – Vatnipedia would justify its own necessity. It would serve journalists, researchers and activists by cataloguing who echoes whom. Rather than digging through disparate blogs and conferences, one could enter a name and instantly see the “conspiratorial pedigree” and the allied organizations. For instance, a search for “Stop the War Coalition” might pull up tags like Russian front, anti-NATO, Assad apologist, and link to figures like Chris Williamson or Lindsey German who have co-hosted Kremlin-friendly speakers. Likewise, clicking on “Alex Jones” would reveal his connections to Tsargrad TV and to libertarian tech efforts (e.g. Rumble, funded by Thiel) that also shelter far-right content.
How Vatnipedia Works (Taxonomy & Visualization)
The core of Vatnipedia would be taxonomy: a controlled vocabulary of ideologies, narratives and networks. We might tag each actor with attributes like “pro-Kremlin,” “anti-imperialist,” “traditionalist,” “free-speech absolutist,” or “anti-LGBTQ.” Each tag forms a facet that multiple figures share. Then the site generates an interactive graph: nodes are people and orgs; colored edges indicate common labels. As a result, clusters appear where you might not expect them – say, a cluster of left-wing editors, Orthodox clerics, and alt-right media tied together by their opposition to “Western decadence.”
For example, the querfront or cross-front strategy would show up as overlapping circles: fascists and Stalinists converging on anti-American tropes. The term “Vatnik” might even be a category linking an angry cartoon character to both Eastern Orthodox nationalists and Western populists. In practice, a reader could browse an illustrated map: red bubbles for Nationalists, yellow for Libertarians, green for Leftists, and see a web of lines. We could highlight sub-networks like: “European New Right thinkers (de Benoist, Meyssan, Karnoouh)” who attract both Trotskyists and anti-Muslim xenophobes, or “military conspiracists” like QAnon that overlap with Putinist info-war pages.
Vatnipedia is as much a research tool as it is a satirical mirror. By spelling out: “Yes, the French National Front, Russian Orthodox Church, and an American militia share talking points,” it pierces the alibis of each. A pop-up might note that Malofeyev’s Tsargrad calls itself Orthodox Fox News, while a similar theme appears on a Turkish Islamist site or an Ayn Rand fan blog. In short, Vatnipedia would cut through the smokescreen of political posturing. No more “Oh, I only hate the same things by coincidence” – the site would show all the mutual admiration inside the network.
Example Key Actors on Vatnipedia
Konstantin Malofeyev – Orthodox oligarch and nationalist media mogul. His network (Katehon, Tsargrad TV) hosts far-right ideologues like Dugin and fringe Western conspiracists. Tsargrad even teams up with the World Congress of Families, linking him to American Christian conservatives.
Lyndon LaRouche – Longtime conspiracy theorist from the left. His “movement” had once-quixotic scientific zeal but today trafficks in anti-establishment rage that overlaps with Dugin’s Eurasianists.
Alexander Dugin – Russian geopolitical thinker. Eurasianist and ultranationalist, he rubs shoulders with global rightists (European National Front leaders, Iran hardliners) and even infiltrates leftist circles through shared conspiracy journals.
Sergey Glazyev – Economists’ economist, he blurs lines by being a Dugin ally and on the board of Katehon, yet also styled himself as a socialist critic of Yeltsin.
Thierry Meyssan & Michel Chossudovsky – Editors of “anti-imperialist” websites (Voltaire Network and GlobalResearch). The two have co-published on each other’s platforms, drawing a roadmap from French New Right conspiracies to Canadian pseudoscience sites (and thence to Russian info-ops).
…and countless others: from Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage mingling with antiwar leftists, to tech oligarchs Peter Thiel and Elon Musk financing alt-media frequented by neo-reactionaries. Each vatnik node on the map gets cross-listed with the issues that bind them – LGBT “culture war,” anti-NATO slogans, even Covid lockdown conspiracies – making the cohesion of this rainbow of extremism plainly visible.
Call to Action and Next Steps
Vatnipedia is imagined as a crowdsourced project. You can help build it by contributing nodes and links. Do you have knowledge of meetings, publications or personalities that fly under the radar? Add them to Vatnipedia’s draft pages. If you’re a coder, think about how to visualize the networks – maybe a creative banner image or infographic ideas. If you’re a journalist or academic, use it as a reference: a quick lookup to check if a newly “normal” politician has uncomfortably familiar pals or quotes.
We hope Vatnipedia will grow into a user-friendly map of the ideological swamp. By combining serious research with tongue-in-cheek framing (after all, nothing defangs absurdity like laughter), it will demystify today’s red-brown weirdness. So join in: help catalogue the “conspiracy mind hive,” suggest definitions for the factions (what exactly do we call “New Age Stalinists,” for instance?), or simply spread the word.
By plotting these alliances on a clear map (and laughing at the absurdity), Vatnipedia will make one thing undeniable: in today’s ideology soup, the strange really is the new normal.
Sources: Vatnipedia’s observations are drawn from in-depth investigations of red-brown networks. These and other experts detail how figures like Malofeyev, Dugin, LaRouche, Kagarlitsky, Shamir, and countless others overlap in propaganda and strategy – which Vatnipedia simply seeks to catalog and visualize.
Citations
What is the Third Position? | Political Research Associates
https://politicalresearch.org/2016/12/19/what-third-position