the new russian nationalismA more ethnocentric orientation could be expected from the
Congress of Russian Communities (KRO), which was explicitly
devoted to the support of Russians in the ‘near abroad’. The
adjective ‘Russian’ in the name of the movement was indeed
russkii, not rossiiskii – but, according to Alan Ingram (1999:
688), KRO ‘rejects an ethnic nationalism based on blood ties and
descent, but neither is its nation fully civic, embracing all regard-
less of culture and identity. While descent ties are important in
defining an ethnos, it is not these ties that constitute the nation;
this arises out of state formation and a high culture’ (see also
Tuminez 2000: 191).
In the mid- 1990s, neo- Eurasianism became one of the strong-
est currents of Russian nationalism, if not the strongest. Like
their interwar namesakes, most latter- day Eurasianists adhered
to a non- ethnic definition of the nation. Aleksandr Panarin,
for instance, warned that ‘the logic of ethnic sovereignty takes
us back to pre- medieval times and jeopardises Eurasian unity’
(Laruelle 2008: 96), while Aleksandr Dugin denounced ethnona-
tionalism and called for ‘a rational, dispassionate nationalism’
instead (Laruelle 2008: 128). Dugin proclaimed the coming of
‘a new Eurasian stage in Russian history in which the traditional
expansion of the historical mission of the state will reach its final
limits’; in this state ‘the preservation of each and every people and
ethnos will be regarded as a highest historical value’ (Dugin 1999:
32, 134–5).
Russian supremacist nationalism
While most empire- oriented Russian nationalists steer clear of
ethnocratic thinking, certain groups nevertheless adhere to what
I have here called supremacism. These are groupings in line with
the tradition of the pre- revolutionary Black Hundred movements.
First and foremost this was the case with the Pamiat movement,
which gained notoriety under perestroika for its combination of
monarchism, stringent Orthodoxy and fascist- inspired symbols
and ideology elements (Laqueur 1993). The same tendency is
found in several smaller groups that at various points splintered
off from Pamiat but kept its Russian supremacist orientation,