Nationalism and the Russian political spectrum: Locating and evaluating the extremes

Abstract

This article argues that nationalism should be addressed specifically in attempts to systematize Russian politics. 'Radicalism' or 'moderation' in terms of nationalism does not necessarily follow 'radicalism' or 'moderation' on other political indicators. Some political actors are simply better categorized by their nationalism than by their position on, say, an economic (state vs. market) or political (liberal vs. authoritarian) scale. This argument is developed in a three-step analysis. First, the article discusses typical meanings of spatial terms - such as 'left', 'right', and 'centrist' - in modern Russian politics, and existing attempts to model the Russian political landscape. Secondly, it presents a two-dimensional model which distinguishes between four different expressions of Russian nationalism. Thirdly, it compares various political actors introduced in the first section with each of the two dimensions of nationalism.