the new russian nationalismchild died in Texas, Russia’s parliament barred Americans from
adopting Russian children and then threw in a ban on gays adopt-
ing Russian children for good measure. The strategy, reviled by
many in the West and upsetting to many liberal Russians who
saw their country as integrating into the international community
and ‘modern’ values, largely worked. Polls consistently showed
significant support for these laws, and over the course of 2012–13
United Russia’s ratings had largely recovered and Putin’s support
was strong (Levada Centre 2013d. 2014a).
Putin’s nationalist turn 2013–14
It was only in 2014, however, that nationalism came to play a
truly central role in sustaining support for Putin and thereby stabi-
lising the regime – at least temporarily. The Kremlin had hesitated
to invoke nationalism as a primary basis of support prior to this
point for three main reasons. First, most of the Kremlin’s main
opposition parties had long been sounding nationalist themes,
as noted above, meaning that nationalism would not necessar-
ily help the Kremlin stand out from them unless it took some
truly radical stands. Second, adopting a much stronger nation-
alist stance would be divisive, potentially alienating a signifi-
cant segment of the Russian citizenry that had prioritised liberal
values, ‘modernisation’, and integrating Russia into the world
economy and considered nationalism unsavoury or dangerous.
A third reason was even more potent: there are multiple forms
of nationalism, and in Russia they are often in conflict with one
another. This is evident upon reflection. If the chief goal of nar-
rowly ethnic Russian nationalism is an ethnically pure Russian
state, the imperial version of nationalism means precisely rein-
tegrating with many peoples who do not fit the narrow ethnic
definition of ‘Russian’. This tension was evident just below the
surface during 2013, especially in the case of riots in the Biriulevo-
Zapadnoe district of Moscow. In that incident, an Azerbaijani
migrant worker was accused of killing an ethnic Russian, prompt-
ing many Russians to go on a rampage, including an attack on a
company that employed many migrant workers. Most of these
migrants were from areas of the former Soviet Union, such as