"Seven Words on Russia's Future": Perspectives from Philosophers, Architects, and Visionaries

At the National Centre RUSSIA, experts presented a view on Russia's future from the perspectives of philosophy, technology, architecture, economics, and politics. Here, on 8 December, the expert discussion "Seven Words on Russia's Future" was held as part of the All-Russian Patriotic Forum. Architects, visionaries, entrepreneurs, techno-culturologists, philosophers, and public figures voiced their vision of the topic.

Alexander Dugin, Director of the Educational and Scientific Centre "Ivan Ilyin Higher Political School", Doctor of Political Science and Sociology, Professor, noted that today the West is dominated by the thesis that "there will be no future": Western civilisation has lost the image of a bright tomorrow and lives in scenarios of decline, catastrophe, and collapse, not desiring the future as a goal but merely consuming the accumulated past. At the same time, he said, Russia exists alongside this powerful but internally hollowed-out civilisation, and therefore it is Russia that must consciously desire its own future—not borrowed or dissolved in foreign models, but born from its own will and identity.

Photo: Press Office of the National Centre RUSSIA

"It is a mistake to think that the future will come unavoidably. It may not come at all. For the future to come, one must desire it very strongly. The future must become an object of longing, of desire. Only then will we move. Aristotle said that all things move by the force of their desire, even if they have no specific goal. In this case, this desire for the future determines the being of our people, of our country today <...> If we want a future, it must be Russian. If it is not going to be Russian, it will not exist. It will simply disintegrate and dissolve. We must desire it. Only then we will begin to create it," shared Alexander Dugin.

Photo: Press Office of the National Centre RUSSIA

Memory and the future cannot be entrusted to management "from the outside": individuals and the country must themselves take responsibility for how they interpret their past, what meanings grow from it, and what future they build, believes Dmitry Marinichev, visionary, internet ombudsman, and advisor to the Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. According to him, only through conscious co-creation, by abandoning the struggle to "own" history, breaking free from imposed images, and making an honest internal choice is it possible to create our genuinely own future—not as a copy of foreign models, but as a living, independent, and responsible path.

"If we were to describe Russia's future by just a few words, for me those words are: memory, love, freedom, responsibility, uniqueness, cooperation. And the main word that unites all the rest is co-creation. From this grows a special form of love for the country: not a childish love for something, nor the resentful love of a teenager 'in spite of,' but a love without proprietary claim," continued Dmitry Marinichev. "Russia does not belong to me, nor does it belong to anyone individually — not to one generation, not to one group, not to one elite. It has its own character and its own line of destiny. We can be co-authors, but we cannot be masters. The same applies to memory. The history of Russia should not be anyone's privatised asset. As soon as we abandon the idea of owning the past and the future, the conflict disappears. We stop demanding a perfect past, we stop seeing caricatures in each other."

Photo: Press Office of the National Centre RUSSIA

Alexei Komov, architect, Vice President of the Union of Architects of Russia, and founder of the Beacons of the Russian World project, has also presented his vision. He said that architecture is not only houses and government buildings but, in general, a reflection of the image of the Russian world. In his opinion, it is important to develop territories within the country, that is, the "inner cosmos", in order to improve this image.

Alexei Komov continued that the architecture of the future embraces traditions: it does not reject them, neither does it unify them, but on the contrary, it makes them a component of unity. Through this, it will be possible to unite in order to achieve a common goal, he believes.

Photo: Press Office of the National Centre RUSSIA

"The future of Russia has special significance for me as an architect. It is a mighty state with a clearly expressed architectural image of its own. For me, it is conscious and personally significant. In our future work, we consider it not just as a style, but as an architectural order — a Russian order, synthesised on the basis of great traditions, which become the new architectural avant-garde. Undoubtedly, we apply modern technologies and technologies of the future, but without being rooted in the traditional, eternal values upon which architecture is built — the architecture that forms a person — this is impossible," noted Alexei Komov.

During the expert discussion "Seven Words on Russia's Future", the opinions were also shared by Ivan Karpushkin, techno-culturologist and co-founder of the Heritage XXI discussion club; Levan Vasadze, entrepreneur and public figure; Sergei Cherkasov, entrepreneur and public figure; and Andrei Milekhin, President of the ROMIR Institute of Human Studies.

The All-Russian Patriotic Forum is being held at the National Centre RUSSIA from 7 to 10 December. It has brought together over 4,000 attendees — representatives of patriotic associations from all regions of the country and friendly states. The event is organised by the Federal State Budgetary Institution Rospatriotcentre of Rosmolodezh, the Russian society Znanie, the Movement of the First, and the All-Russian Youth Military Patriotic Public Movement YUNARMIYA. The forum's programme includes expert and discussion sessions, round tables, working meetings, interaction with Heroes of the Russian Federation, as well as the award ceremony for the Patriot National Prize laureates.