the new russian nationalismthe nationalism agenda out of the hands of the communists, in
part because although a majority of the Russian public share the
left- wing critique of globalisation, they have no enthusiasm for
a return to Soviet- type central planning as a solution (Mikhailin
2013).
One of the most outspoken and prolific nationalist critics of
neoliberalism in Russia is Mikhail Deliagin, a former member
of Eltsin’s liberal economic team (1990–8) who then worked for
Evgenii Primakov and became one of the leaders of the nationalist
Rodina party (2004–6).^6 From his position as head of the Institute
for Problems of Globalisation he has penned a stream of articles
and books calling for an autarkic development strategy based on
infrastructural investment and industrial protectionism (see, for
example, Deliagin 2009). He has been a consistent critic of the
liberalisation policies pursued by Putin- Medvedev: in 2007 he
was digitally erased from a TV talk show because of comments
critical of Putin (Levy 2008).
The leading standard bearer for nationalist economics
is nevertheless Sergei Glazev. Like Deliagin, Glazev was part
of the early 1990s Eltsin reform team, serving as Minister for
External Economic Relations in 1992–3. He was a member of
the State Duma 1993–5 and 1997–2007, first on the ticket of the
Democratic Party of Russia and then the Communist Party. In
2003 he was one of the founders of the nationalist Rodina Party,
which made higher taxes on natural resource rents a plank in its
programme in the December 2003 State Duma elections. Rodina
won an impressive 9 per cent of the vote: fearful of its success, in
2006 the Kremlin shut it down, forcing it to merge into the new
A Just Russia party.
Glazev has developed a coherent and consistent analysis of
the challenges facing the Russian economy – the intensification
of globalisation that leads to the deindustrialisation of mature
economies, and the deepening financialisation that exposes
countries to speculative bubbles while strengthening the power
of the US (Glaz’ev 2011). He believes that recycling the petro-
wealth through a state- led investment campaign in infrastructure
and manufacturing, behind protectionist barriers, can preserve
Russia’s industrial base. However, he overlooks the fact that