By Kye Allen
Introduction
On 3 July, Constantin von Hoffmeister, then editor-in-chief of Arktos—the leading publisher of Eurasian, identitarian, and New Right thought—announced a new venture, Multipolar Press. Within two months, he was removed from his editorial position at Arktos. Unpacking the reasons behind his dismissal reveals ideological fissures within the far right’s intellectual milieu.
While von Hoffmeister’s removal may be viewed as part of a familiar far-right split between pro- and anti-Russian factions, this piece instead contends that it primarily reflects a rejection of ‘Third Worldism’—the far right’s flirtation with anti-Western, ‘multipolar’, and Global-South-aligned narratives—in favour of Western chauvinism.
Farewell to Russia?
On 4 September, Arktos released a forceful statement regarding von Hoffmeister’s sacking. While acknowledging his role in Arktos’ “transition to new printing and distribution formats” following its earlier deplatforming by print-on-demand provider Ingram Content Group, the statement concluded that he “misused his editorial capacity at Arktos in ways which contract the [outlet’s] coherence, independence, and high standards”.
The anti-fascist magazine Searchlight interpreted this as part of a long-existent rift within the far right—exacerbated by the war in Ukraine—between pro- and anti-Russian factions. It amounted to an abandonment of ‘Duganism’, a reference to Arktos’ hitherto embrace of foremost neo-Eurasianist Alexander Dugin. To quote Anton Shekhovtsov, Dugin’s neo-Eurasianism constitutes a “fascist ideology centred on the idea of … building a totalitarian, Russia-dominated Eurasian Empire that would challenge and eventually defeat its eternal adversary represented by the United States and its Atlanticist allies”.
Searchlight’s conclusion is not unreasonable. The Russophilic von Hoffmeister clearly gravitates towards Dugin’s political thought. Neo-Eurasianist discourse, particularly the concept of ‘multipolarity’, saturated Arktos’ output during his tenure from early 2024, releasing no less than three books and eighty articles by Dugin. In January, von Hoffmeister himself penned an Arktos book, which carried an unmistakable neo-Eurasianist ethos and even a laudatory foreword by Dugin. Furthermore, von Hoffmeister claims that Arktos’ “management made a strategic choice [during 2025] to distance the company from Alexander Dugin and the topic of multipolarity”. He was allegedly “asked to reduce and eventually halt promotion of Dugin’s works”, while his call for an “Arktos-affiliated platform dedicated to Dugin, multipolarity, [and] Eurasianism” were flatly rejected.
The rationale presented by Arktos’ management also cited “associations and dealings” by von Hoffmeister, which “potentially misrepresent” the outlet. What these associations are remains unclear, though they may partly refer to his newfound role as a regular contributor to state-backed Russian network RT, publishing over a dozen articles in the 12 months prior to leaving Arktos. Since then, he has continued to publish with RT, even making multiple appearances on RT-hosted show CrossTalk. Although Searchlight did not mention these links, it gestured towards a similar view: Arktos’ management may have “grown nervous at the increasingly blatant role of Russian intelligence operatives in trying to manipulate the far right for propaganda purposes”.
In sum, there is credible evidence to suggest that Arktos’ editorial redirection is yet another example of the divide between pro- and anti-Russian sentiments that have grown since the invasion of Ukraine, a divide demarcating ‘national conservatives’ like Steve Bannon from ‘Anglo-skeptics’ such as New Right thinker Alain de Benoist or Duginite ‘neo-Eurasianists’. Yet, as argued below, this interpretation obfuscates a subtler, albeit more important, rationale for von Hoffmeister’s dismissal, one pointing towards a different ideological fissure.
Out with ‘Third Worldism,’ In with Western Chauvinism
Less than 24 hours after announcing von Hoffmeister’s departure, Arktos published an excerpt titled ‘Against Third Worldism’ by identitarian thinker Guillaume Faye. In scholarly terms, Third Worldism denotes an ideological current that emerged during the Cold War linking anti-colonial struggles in the Global South with a shared opposition to Western imperialism and capitalist domination. Faye recasts it as an outdated, self-defeating ideology of Western guilt and dependency that must be unequivocally rejected. “[F]ar from being a potential ally”, he concludes, “the Third World represents the worst possible danger to Europe.”
The post was a barely veiled rebuke of von Hoffmeister, whose enthusiasm for a new ‘multipolar’ world order constitutes a form of far-right Third Worldism, embracing Russia and the Global South as fellow adversaries of liberalism. In an essay published on 2 September, ‘The New Right and Third Worldism’, von Hoffmeister traced this sense of North-South solidarity to interwar thinkers associated with the German ‘Conservative Revolution’. Ironically, he even sought to claim Faye as a proponent.
Regardless of Faye’s actual views, the intent behind Arktos’ article was clear; readers noticed too. As one commenter remarked: “Convenient timing, I’m not complaining though. The third worldism needed to go”. Though the article never mentioned von Hoffmeister, the subtext was unmistakable: Third Worldism is out, Western chauvinism is in. In fact, in early September, von Hoffmeister posted a Cold War–era cartoon to X depicting China, India, and Africa as towering figures confronting a diminutive “U.S. Imperialism”. The post garnered over two million impressions and hundreds of comments deriding him as an ‘anti-white’, Bolshevik traitor. This outcry included a repost by Arktos seeking to place distance between itself, von Hoffmeister, and Third Worldism.
Crucially, though, Arktos has presently only objected to Third Worldism. It has neither definitively shifted from a pro-Russian position, nor necessarily rejected Dugin. Indeed, within 48 hours of von Hoffmeister’s removal, Arktos published a new piece by Dugin, since releasing three further articles by him (7% of content in the Arktos Journal between 4 September and 4 November).
Conclusion
Arktos has always been an eclectic endeavour, publishing everything from philosophical tracts about UFOs to reprints by the ‘superfascist’ Julius Evola. Pro-Russian and even neo-Eurasianist discourse seemingly remain within the journal’s wide scope. By contrast, sympathies for Third Worldist visions of international order lie beyond the pale. Whether removing von Hoffmeister will quell criticism remains unclear; Dugin himself may yet become persona non grata. Presently, however, this editorial shift signifies not so much another example of the far-right rift between pro- and anti-Russian voices, but a sidelining of far right and anti-imperial discourse emanating from or supportive of the Global South.
Kye Allen holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and is a research associate at pattrn.ai (Pattrn Analytics & Intelligence). This article was written in his personal capacity. His primary research interests focus on far-right extremism, both historical and contemporary, and the intersection between technology, political violence, and extremism.