Visions of Russia's Imperial Future: The Russian Discourse on the Restoration of the USSR or a Russian Empire After 1992
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Date
2024
Authors
Malek, Martin
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Abstract
History knows only very few examples of attempts to rebuild once collapsed empires, but it looks as if we are witnessing just such an attempt – specifically by Vladimir Putin's Russia.
More than a decade ago, I co-edited an anthology on the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was anything but a bestseller; there were a few (mostly positive) reviews, but in fact it was hardly noticed or immediately forgotten. This also inevitably affected a contribution I wrote for this book about the revisionism and revanchism that was already widespread in Russia at the time, expressed in plans to restore the USSR or a 'Russian empire' (however specifically named). While working on this article at the time, I was astonished to realise that this topic was virtually ignored by politicians, the public, the media as well as humanities and social sciences (the currently very popular postcolonial theories are hardly interested in this) in Western Europe and North America – despite its enormous potential importance. I put forward the hypothesis that the lack of interest in this issue is one of the most important factors that has led us to the situation we face since 24 February 2022, the beginning of the Russian large-scale attack on Ukraine.
This topic is complex. However, the time available only allows me to present a few theses, some particularly characteristic quotes from the relevant discourse and outline options for the near future.
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Keywords
Russia's imperial future, Soviet republics, Post-Soviet discourse in Russia, Russia's Colonial War against Ukraine, reflections
Citation
Malek M. Visions of Russia's Imperial Future: The Russian Discourse on the Restoration of the USSR or a Russian Empire After 1992 / Martin Malek // Kyiv-Mohyla Law and Politics Journal. - 2024. - No. 10. - P. 127-133. - https://doi.org/10.18523/kmlpj320060.2024-10.127-133