For much of the 20th century, Russia was the laboratory for one of the most far-reaching ideological experiments in history. But for most of the two-and-a-half decades since communism’s collapse, Russian politics has been bereft of guiding ideas.

To the casual observer, it might seem otherwise. Listen to the country’s politicians speak, and you still hear echoes of the last century’s great battles of ideas. Russian propagandists are not shy about calling their adversaries “fascists” — the term of abuse most often deployed against those inUkraine who oppose the Russian-backed rebels.

In Russian parlance, however, “fascism” does not denote an ideology but merely an orientation. Fascists are people who attack the country from outside — no matter what they believe. Nazi Germany and its allies were called fascists during what Russians know as the Great Patriotic War. But now the term is also used to describe pro-western liberals, including the late Boris Nemtsov.