the new russian nationalismlong time hesitated to embrace the new ethnic rhetoric. For one
thing, playing the ethnic card must be assumed to antagonise the
non- Russian part of the population (see Alexseev, this volume).
For the purposes of national consolidation, a civic nation idea
seems more promising, and indeed elements of a rossiiskii nation
concept are still evident in the speeches of Putin and particularly
of Medvedev. However, if this idea does not stir any feelings and
fails to attract people to the state, it cannot serve its purpose.
For the Kremlin, the benefit of Eurasianism is that it can provide
ideological underpinnings for a foreign policy aimed at expanding
Russian influence in the ‘near abroad’. Symptomatically, Putin’s
pet project of an Eastern mini- European Union (mini-EU) that
would include as many as possible of the former Soviet repub-
lics is called the Eurasian Union. However, this policy does not
provide any answers to what a large and increasing number of
Russians see as a major problem: the alleged inundation of Russia
of ‘culturally alien’ migrants from other parts of the former Soviet
Union. Precisely this problem, however, has swelled the ranks of
the ethnonationalists.
With the annexation of Crimea, Putin has expanded the ter-
ritory of the Russian state somewhat, a step warmly applauded
by the Russian imperialists and Eurasianists. The justification for
doing so he has to a considerable degree taken from the rhetorical
repertoire of the ethnonationalists. In the process, Putin had, at
least for the time being, managed to steal the thunder from both
groups.
Notes
- Even if Kohn did not use that term himself.
- For other models of Russian nationalism, highlighting other aspects,
see Yanov (1978); Carter (1990: 138–9); Tolz (1998); and Tuminez
(2000). - Author’s interview, Moscow, November 2013. When I later asked
Tishkov whether he believed Putin’s talk about a ‘divided’ Russian
(russkii) nation undermined the rossiiskii nation- state concept, he
denied that. Even after the recent annexation of Crimea, Tishkov
was able to find statements in which the Russian president con-