Recently, there has been an interesting trend of high-ranking Russian politicians writing articles of an ideological nature in which they attempt to analyze the metaphysical meaning of global political processes and find a place for Moscow in a changing world. The most interesting piece originates from Vladislav Surkov, personal adviser to Vladimir Putin. The article is devoted to the new civilizational stage of the Russian state. In Surkov's opinion, there are four state models in Russian history: the Grand Duchy of Moscow of Ivan the Third (XV -- XVII centuries), the Russian Empire of Peter the Great (XVIII -- XIX centuries), the Soviet Empire of Lenin (XX century) and the Russian Federation of Vladimir Putin. Surkov’s main message is that the country has approached a certain period when the process of forming a new long-term national ideology -- “Putinism” -- is being completed. The given ideology is weakly connected with the subjective personality of the...(Read Full Article)