Civilizational Dissonance: Alexander Dugin and the Limits of Sino-Russian Ideological Convergence

Between 2022 and 2025, Russia’s leading far-right ideologue Alexander Dugin garnered notable attention in Chinese intellectual, media, and nationalist circles. Initially welcomed by some as a kindred civilizational thinker opposing Western liberal hegemony, Dugin’s image evolved from that of a respected foreign intellectual to a controversial figure. This paper traces the evolution of his reception across China’s tightly managed ideological ecosystem, drawing on a mixed-methods analysis of traditional media (Guancha; Cankao Xiaoxi, or Reference News; and the Global Times), digital platforms (Weibo, Bilibili, Zhihu, Xiaohongshu), and think-tank publications. It argues that while Dugin’s early appeal lay in his critique of Western universalism and endorsement of multipolarity, the deeper metaphysical and hierarchical dimensions of his worldview ultimately clashed with China’s civilizational self-perception and strict norms of ideological sovereignty. By situating this episode within broader debates on ideological convergence and authoritarian narrative management, this paper highlights the structural constraints limiting the transnational diffusion of illiberal ideologies, even in regimes nominally aligned against the liberal international order.