Yet another source of defining influence on the New Right was the political philosophy of Carl Schmitt, a German thinker who specialised in constitutional law. This is, firstly, Schmitt’s theory of the partisan, the irregular fighter who is tied to the earth, to Land. This is the telluric character. The partisan is faithful to the land (as Nietzsche beseeched: “Brethren of mine, be loyal to the earth”). The partisan is the guardian of Europe. For de Benoist, the theory of the partisan is the theory of the one who shall preserve European identity in the end times.
Also important to de Benoist in Carl Schmitt’s theory is his concept of war. According to Schmitt, there is total war and there is war of forms. War of forms is war that is waged according to definite rules, which has clear specifications, limitations, space, laws, and is waged temporarily and then turns into a concluded peace. Total war, meanwhile, is the war of all against all that is waged permanently and incorporates all of society.
Schmitt says—and Alain de Benoist follows him and develops this topic—that the presence of terrorism in the world in general means that we are in a situation of permanent war. War no longer has a strictly defined territory for combat operations (the Twin Towers can be blown up, a terror attack can be organized anywhere). Thus, we find ourselves in a space of constant war. Alain de Benoist says that liberalism leads to such constant war, to total war, as it rejects the idea of war of forms and deceitfully claims that there should be eternal peace and human rights. Such demagogy and double standards lead only to the bloodiest and cruelest wars.
Also important for Alain de Benoist is Carl Schmitt’s concept of friend/enemy as the essence of the Political. When you say that you have an enemy, you are forming your own identity; a certain selfdetermination is formed on the basis of this contrast. These are the key points that Alain de Benoist’s political philosophy takes from the Schmittian model.
Excerpt from the book, A Theory of Europe by Daria Platonova Dugina
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915755948
Art by Alexey Belyaev-Gintovt, contemporary Russian artist.
https://vk.com/alexeygintovt , https://www.facebook.com/guintovt
Compilation of texts and thoughts by Daria Dugina narrated in English, about The Traditionalism, The Philosophy and The Russian World and quotes from her book and poems, so that her soul will be remembered for all eternity.
