The Power State Is Back? Almost 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the process of ‘re-composition’ of a Moscow-dominated political space is still under way. Under the influence of different traditions, factors, events and interests, Russia seems to have developed a new version The Power of the ‘power state’ that dominated European history until the 20th century’s tragedies. What was the weight of the Soviet legacy and of the crises of the 1990s in this development? What has been the influence of polit- ical leaders and intellectuals, siloviki, and economic elites on the State Is Back? current Russian political thought? To what extent have external factors contributed to shape this thought? What place for minori- The Evolution of Russian ties and cultural differences does this political trend leave? This volume is based on the proceedings of ‘The Evolution of Rus- sian Political Thought After 1991’ workshop organized by Reset- Political Thought After 1991 Dialogues on Civilizations (Berlin, 22-23 June 2015) and collects the essays written by Pavel K. Baev, Giancarlo Bosetti, Timothy J. Colton, Riccardo Mario Cucciolla, Alexander Golts, Lev Gudkov, Stephen E. Hanson, Mark Kramer, Marlene Laruelle, Alexey Miller, Olga Pavlenko and Victoria I. Zhuravleva. I libri di Reset Baev, Bosetti, Colton, Golts ISBN 978-88-98593-16-3 Gudkov, Hanson, Kramer, Laruelle 20,00 Miller, Pavlenko, Zhuravleva 9 788898 593163 edited by Riccardo Mario Cucciolla I libri di Reset The Power State Is Back? The Evolution of Russian Political Thought After 1991 Edited by Riccardo Mario Cucciolla Contents I libri di Reset Presenting ‘The Russia Workshop’ 7 A New Insight on Contemporary Russia Director Giancarlo Bosetti Giancarlo Bosetti Preface 11 The Importance of Understanding Contemporary Russia Riccardo Mario Cucciolla Introduction 23 What Do We Mean by ‘Russian Political Thought’? Timothy J. Colton Part I Publisher Reset s.r.l. Via San Telesforo 10, 00165 Rome, Italy First edition June 2016, ISBN 978-88-98593-16-3 Imperial Identity and Soviet Heritage 35 I. On the Novelty of Patrimonialism in Putin’s Russia Photocopies made by readers for personal use can amount to 15 percent of the book paying SIAE the fees established by Article 68, Stephen E. Hanson commas 4 and 5, of the Italian law dated April 22nd 1941 no. 633. 49 II. The ‘Great Power’ Ideologeme as a Condition Reproductions made for professional, financial or commercial use, of Putin’s Regime Legitimacy or any use differing from personal use may be made only following Lev Gudkov authorisation from AIDRO (www.aidro.org). 62 III. Nation, Nation-State, State-Nation and Empire-State in Post-Soviet Russia Alexey Miller Graphic Project Studio Cerri & Associati with Francesca Ceccoli 68 IV. Russia as a Xenophobic Empire: Multiethnicity, Printed by Actualtype the Nation and the Empire in Russia’s ‘Political Thought’ Completed in June 2016 Marlene Laruelle Part II Presenting ‘The Russia Workshop’ The Impact of War, Ethnic Conflict A New Insight on Contemporary Russia and the International Environment Giancarlo Bosetti, ResetDoc 79 V. War and its Impact on Politics and Political Thought Mark Kramer 91 VI. State Militarism as a Basis for Russian Identity Alexander Golts 98 VII. The Interplay Between the ‘Hybrid War’ Narrative and the ‘Sovereignty-Territory-Resources’ Discourse Pavel K. Baev Since its foundation in 2005, Reset DoC has promoted dia- 108 VIII. America as the ‘Other’ in Russian Political Discourse: logue across cultural divides through seminars, conferences, Post-Soviet Reality and International Challenges publications, and international events. In more than ten years Victoria I. Zhuravleva of activities, we managed to develop a network among intellec- tuals with different cultural, religious, political backgrounds all 121 IX. Transformation of Security Culture in Russia: Domestic and Foreign Factors around the Mediterranean, the American and Asian regions. Olga Pavlenko In this era of conflicts and tensions, Reset DoC has been able to promote the exchange of ideas even concerning the former Soviet Union context and its main actor, Russia, above all. In order to bridge the gap of knowledge, we gathered, un- 137 Contributors der the coordination of the Italian historian Andrea Graziosi, 143 Bibliography some of the foremost international scholars and world experts 157 Index of Names on Russian studies. The first international workshop – entitled The Evolution of Russian Political Thought After 1991 – was held in Berlin at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGAP) on June 22-23, 2015. It represented the start point of a long-term initiative that Reset DoC promoted in or- der to facilitate the exchange of ideas and views between Rus- sian and international experts in the field of the Russian stud- ies: The Russia Workshop project. This Berliner episode was the initial stage in a much longer journey and its core significance was in the fact that it unlocked a number of subsequent events, such as the concomitant round- table entitled ‘The Political Culture of Today’s Russia. The Power 8 The Power State Is Back? Giancarlo Bosetti 9 State Is Back?’ that was held at DGAP on June 25, 2015. This participation in these events gives us great hope for the future meeting constituted a separate event from the first one, offering of such events. However, only the ability to keep this dynamic the direct testimony of some prominent European policy mak- format, to include more international scholars to the debate, ers in approaching Russia’s power policy issues. After the Berlin to also involve Russian partners in the dialogue and to gener- events, the Russia Workshop initiative had further accredita- ate original insights on contemporary Russia, beyond common tions, attracting the attention of additional partners and spon- simplifications and prejudices, would define the success of sors and the participation of prestigious research institutes. such an ambitious project. This is our challenge. The second workshop entitled Locating ‘Conservative Ide- ology’ in Today’s Russia was organized in collaboration with the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) The first Berlin conference, June 22-23, 2015 at George Washington University) on March 31 – April 1, 2016. This event focused on ‘conservatism’ – as one of the main ele- Beyond Andrea Graziosi (ANVUR, University of Naples Federico II) and Gian- carlo Bosetti, as director or Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations, the scientific ments in the Kremlin’s political languages – and those conser- committee was composed of Timothy J. Colton (Davis Center), Stephen E. vative values and connotations that define contemporary Rus- Hanson (Reves Center), Mark Kramer (Cold War Studies and Davis Center), sia. In this event, the debate analyzed the diversity and plurality Matthew Rojansky (Kennan Institute), Alexandra Vacroux (Davis Center), within the Russian ‘conservative’ spectrum, its representatives Vladislav M. Zubok (London School of Economics). The Reset-DoC organi- zation team was composed of: Giancarlo Bosetti (Director), Letizia Durante in literature, art, social life and in the Orthodox Church, its (Project Administrator), Michele Salonia (Project Manager), Elisa Gianni geopolitical-ideological dimension (as Eurasianism), its Statist (Project Assistant) and Nicola Missaglia (Reset-DoC Managing Editor) with approach and its vision of the world order. the collaboration of Riccardo Mario Cucciolla (IMT Lucca) and Yulia Loe- va (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik). In addition to the authors The third event entitled The State and Political Discourse in published in this book, also Vladislav Inozemtsev and Sergey Markedonov in- Today’s Russia will be held in Venice at the Fondazione Gior- tervened as speakers and Andrea Graziosi and Vladislav Zubok as discussants. gio Cini on June 17-18, 2016. It will focus on the multiplicity of The event and this publication were made possible thanks to the support of the Russian state political discourses within its various organs, the Nomis Foundation and of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. See the official page: http://www.resetdoc.org/news/00000000153. administration, media and party, so as to analyze those con- cepts and ‘sacred’ ideological references which are promoted by Moscow. The debate will also consider the demise of liber- The Berlin roundtable, June 25, 2015 alism and its pluralistic approach, bearing in mind the impact of the Soviet legacy, the expectation and influence of perestroi- The roundtable was welcomed by Arend Oetker (President of the Deutsche ka and the future of democracy in Russia. Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik) and chaired by Giancarlo Bosetti (Reset DoC) For 2017, Reset DoC is also scheduling a fourth event in with the participation of Giuliano Amato (former Italian Prime Minister and Moscow that will concentrate on Russian liberalism. This oc- now Judge of the Italian Constitutional Court), Toomas Hendrik Ilves (President of the Republic of Estonia), Jörg Lau (Foreign Editor Die Zeit), Manuel Sarrazin casion could further develop the Russia Workshop initiative, (Member of the German Bundestag), Karel von Schwarzenberg (former Minis- creating another opportunity to promote dialogue and to ex- ter of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic), Marlene Laruelle (George Wash- tend the horizon of the debate on Russian studies. The growing ington University). See: http://www.resetdoc.org/issue/04/01/2016. 10 The Power State Is Back? The Washington