Russian Nationalism, Foreign Policy and Identity Debates in Putin's Russia

This work discusses the new conjunctions that have emerged between foreign policy events and politicized expressions of Russian nationalism since 2005. The war with Georgia, as well as conflicts with Ukraine and other East European countries over the memory of the Soviet Union, and the Russian interpretation of the 2005 French riots have all contributed to reinforcing narratives of Russia as a fortress against aggressive forces in the West and CIS. This narrative has found support both in state structures and among the larger public. It has been especially salient for some nationalist youth movements, including both pro-Kremlin organizations, such as Nashi, and the skinheads. These various actors each had their own specific agendas, employ different modes of public action, and receive unequal recognition from other segments of society. Yet many of them share their reading of certain foreign policy events with that of various state structures. These and related phenomena are thoroughly analyzed and contextualized in this book.