ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that nationalism remains a central force in Russian politics and society. Since the 1990s, expressions of Russian nationalism have both multiplied and come to focus heavily on ethnic issues. The chapter focuses on national projects shaped and carried out by a number of actors in accordance with their – often competing – visions of the Russian nation, including nation-building efforts by the state leadership. According to G. Hosking, the construction of an imperial state in Russia obstructed nation-building. Russian opposition nationalism can be visualised as a variety of circles that display varying degrees of loyalty to the Putin regime and to the Russian state. In parallel, new forms of Russian nationalism have emerged that are strenuously opposed to the Putin regime. While borrowing from the discourse of opposition nationalism and co-opting nationalist opinion-makers, the Kremlin has succeeded in disqualifying nationalists, let alone pro-democracy ones, preventing them from posing what could be a dangerous challenge to Putin’s rule.
