Russian Politics Research Articles

Scientific and legal principles of determining the territorial boundaries of cathedral Ukraine in the light of revolutionary practice (1917–1920)

Formulation of the problem. Recently, issues related to the history of the implementation of the idea of Ukrainian unity have become extremely acute in ideological life. Along with statements about the absence of the phenomenon of the Ukrainian nation, denials of the fact of the existence of a full-fledged statehood of Ukraine, Russian politicians and some scientists are promoting misleading statements that the current Ukraine was the result of unfortunate mistakes of the leaders of the previous stages of social development, turned out to be a conglomerate of artificially "glued together" in the information space. a territory with an ethnically heterogeneous,or even simply predominantly non-Ukrainian, population. The purpose of the article is to highlight the chronologically first attempt at scientific and practical-political determination of the natural boundaries of territories with the predominance of the Ukrainian ethnographic element as an objective, fair, convincing criterion for their regular composition into a single national-state space. Using the methods of scientific objectivity, concrete-historical and analytical comparative research, the processes of ideological-theoretical and legal substantiation of the concepts of achieving Ukrainian unity in the times of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the times of the Central Council and the Directory, the Hetman's Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1917-1920) are reproduced yr.). On the basis of the available documents and real facts, the picture of the implementation of interconnected concepts of the Ukrainian national-democratic revolution and the unification of the branches of Ukrainianism, which had been dispersed until then, is being reconstructed. A convincing conclusion is made that the observance of clear, principled guidelines for the ethnographic principle, as an unshakable legal basis for the formation of an independent cathedral state, brought undeniable practical results, while neglecting this principle, replacing it with other,mostly opportunistic approaches, ended without results. Key words: Ukrainian revolution, national unity, ethnographic principle, national territorial autonomy, independence, regionalism, separatism, Act of Zluka.

Political Decision-Making in the Context of the Migration Process in Russia at the Present Stage (Problems and Prospects)

Relevance. The genesis and conjuncture of the development of the modern migration process on a global scale and at the level of individual states are accompanied by the dynamization and intensification of most political risks and threats in the actualized conditions of increasing international and interstate interdependence and interdependence. In turn, this requires the development and coordination of optimal mechanisms and tools for making political decisions on migration issues, taking into account national specifics. For Russian political realities, the most preferable option is to operate with the terminology of socio-political stability and security. Accordingly, it is necessary to transform the system of approaches to understanding the modern migration agenda adopted at the level of the Russian political leadership.Purpose. The main purpose of writing the article is to offer the author's methodological recommendations for making political decisions on migration problems.Objectives: determination of the features of the migration process in Russia at the present stage, formulation of the main problems and prospects for the development of the modern Russian migration process.Methodology. The author mainly used the following group of methods in the process of writing the article: secondary analysis of information data, content analysis, event analysis, sociological analysis, formal legal analysis, statistics.Results. Taking into account, firstly, the peculiarities of the migration process in Russia at the present stage, and secondly, the main problems and prospects for the development of the modern Russian migration process at the present stage, some author's methodological recommendations for political decision-making are proposed within the following key blocks: ideological and value design, normative activity, the work of specialized state authorities, the implementation of monitoring of political decision-making.Conclusion. At the present stage of Russia's political and socio-economic development, there is a rather serious and extensive block of unresolved issues and problems in the field of migration, requiring the appropriate joint active participation of various social groups and forces. It is assumed that within the framework of Russian national realities, when making political decisions, a practice-oriented approach based on full consideration of cultural characteristics and maximum provision of socio-political stability is most appropriate.

War Discourse on TV: A Glimpse into Russian Political Talk Shows (2014 and 2022)

AbstractThis article examines the war discourse on Russian television, particularly in political talk show broadcasts aired after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The question of how the two conflicting parties, Russia and Ukraine, are portrayed verbally and visually in these shows is specifically emphasized. While the quantitative analysis traces a massive increase in Russian talk show broadcasts since the beginning of the war, the Critical Discourse Analysis demonstrates which strategies are utilized to demonise and defame the Ukrainian side and to legitimise the war. By comparing the current war discourse with the Ukraine discourse in 2014, this study shows that talk shows have undertaken a significant role in supporting the war and have become a puissant didactic tool to influence and manipulate public opinion by perennially repeating key governmental messages and efficiently orchestrating all visual, verbal, and non-verbal means at their disposal.

The Idea of War in Russian Political Thought after 1991

As time passed, in Russian political thought after the collapse of the Soviet Union, militarism or even an apology for war came to the fore. The aim of the study was to detect the most important models of this trend, taking into account the timeline of the Crimean events in 2014, and to attempt to explain its background in the absence of significant military threats to Russia from the international environment. Four main models of post-Soviet militarism have been distinguished: a) the rational model, pointing to the effects of military action in the modern world; b) the dualistic model of a clash between the traditionalist Russian civilization and the corrupt and expansionist West; c) the fatalistic concept of war as an inevitable aspect of the maturation of societies; d/the revivalist model, where war is treated as a device of social mobilization.

Response to Jessica Pisano’s Review of Party Politics in Russia and Ukraine: Electoral System Change in Diverging Regimes

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Party Politics in Russia and Ukraine: Electoral System Change in Diverging Regimes. Bryon Moraski. New York: New York University Press, 2022. 304p. $99.00 cloth, $35.00 paper.

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

The European Union in the Russian State Duma Debates, 1994–2004

Although the European Union (EU) was occasionally presented in a positive light in the lower house of the Russian parliament (the State Duma) in 1994–2004, there were also numerous criticisms of the EU and the “European community” in a broader sense. The discussions were accompanied by vocally articulated anxieties by those factions that were oppositional to the President and the Government but had a strong foothold in the parliament, such as the conservative Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), the rightwing populist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), and the rightwing Rodina (“Motherland”) Party and its predecessors. These anxieties pertained to Chechnya, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states as the spaces of contestation between Russia and the EU. The projects of (re)building the Russian (Soviet) imperial formation on the basis of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) or the Union State (of Russia and Belarus) were presented as alternatives to Western European integration based on the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The anti-EU rhetoric in the Duma, which came hand in hand with the denunciation of NATO, provided a discursive foundation for the eventual shift of the President’s and the Government’spolicy. The members of United Russia, the Government’s party without a clear ideology that won a constitutional majority in 2003, adopted elements of conservative and rightwing rhetoric of the formal opposition in 2004. This happened in the context of the EU enlargement when the issues of the accessibility of the Kaliningrad Region and the rights of the Russian speakers in Latvia and Estonia were discussed in the parliament. Later the same year, the start of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine became a further impetus for the Duma’s anti-EU discourse, a discourse that would soon become mainstream in Russian politics.

Цифровые сервисы как этап развития экосистем в современной российской политике

Introduction. The article deals with issues related to the comprehensive phenomenon of modernity, the Internet. Attention is paid to new phenomena of its development, such as the emergence of digital services and platforms as well as the creation of digital ecosystems. Domestic and foreign approaches to the analysis of the ecosystem phenomenon are considered, and specific characteristics that are observed in the process of the formation of digital ecosystems in Russian politics are given. Materials and methods. The article presents the results of a survey of experts from 12 subjects of the Russian Federation, with a total sample of 134 respondents, aimed at determining the features of the formation and functioning of digital services in modern Russian politics. Experts assess the digital services of modern Russia and the potential of ecosystem development in politics. Analysis. Experts’ assessment of the existence of full-fledged ecosystems in politics at the moment in Russia is quite unambiguous. More than half of the experts note that at the moment there are no full-fledged ecosystems in politics, and only a small part of the experts note that they see certain elements of the manifestation of ecosystems in politics. At the same time, many experts note the effectiveness of the use of ecosystems in the commercial sphere, elements of which can be successfully used and integrated into ecosystems in politics. Results. The research conducted suggests that initially small digital services, as they developed, significantly transformed many traditional areas of activity. Moreover, they became the technologies that began to monopolize them, turning into global (both geographically and functionally) ecosystems. The Internet allows citizens and various political and civil institutions to simplify their own interactions through the use of modern advances in digital technologies. The creation of ecosystems is most effective when it is initiated by actors pursuing specific goals. In the case of ecosystems, there is a shortage of both subjectivity and goal-setting in politics. This significantly limits the incentives for the development of digital services. Authors’ contribution. Sokolov A.V.: formulation of the paper’s problem, creation of a theoretical concept, analysis of the literature on the research problem, scientific editing of the text of the paper, formulation of conclusions and research results. Frolov A.A.: creation of the main concept of the article, revision of the paper’s text, formulation of conclusions. Grebenko E.D.: data processing, preparation of the paper’s text and graphic results of the study, formulation of conclusions.

Linguistic Analysis of the Concept of CORRUPTION in the Russian Political Discourse

Linguistic Analysis of the Concept of CORRUPTION in the Russian Political Discourse

Особенности трактовок государственной идеологии в научном дискурсе современной России

Within the framework of this article, the main problems associated with the actualization in domestic social science of scientific research on various aspects of the functioning of political ideologies in modern Russia are considered. The author states that for the last year in the subject field of researchers there have been widely discussed such issues as problems of theoretical and methodological foundations for the analysis of ideologies and their role in shaping the worldview of various age groups, constitutional context of functionality of ideologies in Russian politics, imperial tendencies in the ideological and worldview space of Russia, significance of ideologies in socio-political communications, and a number of other important aspects. The author pays main attention to analysis of the changes that have occurred recently in domestic scientific discourse in the interpretation of state ideology, discussions about the expediency and possibility of its adoption, about its value core, about its applied significance in the process of political socialization, and other aspects. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that the majority of supporters of development and normative consolidation of the state ideology underestimate the fact that in modern Russia there are no legal, political, socioeconomic, and socio-cultural prerequisites for this. Nevertheless, in the context of a hybrid war between the United States and its allies against Russia, the public’s awareness of a very real deadly external danger to the country becomes crucial. In author’s opinion, there is not only an objective need, but also the possibility of reaching a consensus on this issue of all the leading political forces in Russia, res ponsible for its fate to future generations. Such public consent of the leading Russian political parties does not require a radical revision of the current Constitution of the Russian Federation and can be adopted in the form of a memorandum, declaration, or any other form that does not claim to be a state ideology.

Больше, чем консерватизм: историко-политические основания российской государственности

The paper is dedicated to the problem of updating existing ideas about the historical and political foundations of Russian statehood. The main goal of the paper is to update the existing academic discourse, aimed at complex and systematic reflection of Russian political thought, and the presentation of an unorthodox reading of the intellectual and philosophical foundation of Russian politics. Regardless contemporary focus on conservative political philosophy is the most common for such studies, the author believes it is necessary to go beyond this position and turn to a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of the key positions of the Russian worldview. For this, it is necessary to turn to the underestimated, sometimes even ignored concepts of communitarianism, solidarism and Russian cosmism, which should be revealed within the framework of a civilizational approach. The main conclusion of the work is that, considered as a developing system, these concepts embody the value constants of community, sobornost’ (catholicity), harmony and solidarity that are significant for Russian civilization, and also emphasize the global rootedness of the Russian worldview with simultaneous original understanding and interpreting the ideological guidelines of the leading trends in social political thought. The author believes it is extremely important to take into account these circumstances dealing with current public opinion and the process of reforming the scientific and educational sector that has begun in Russia. It also emphasizes the need to optimize methodological work during the study of political thought - through the awareness of the indoctrination of contemporary social sciences and their conceptual apparatus, clear understanding the natural dynamics of civilizational development and the impossibility of dogmatically reducing multiform and multinational cultures to a simplified formal doctrine.

Metamorphoses of Vaccine Diplomacy As Seen by Experts and Politicians

The article considers the transformation of such a relatively new phenomenon of international life as vaccine diplomacy in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . Based on the analysis of empirical data collected by working with experts in the fi eld of science diplomacy and international scientifi c and technical cooperation , the authors of the study examined and interpreted some of the qualitative changes in vaccine diplomacy . A content analysis was carried out in order to comprehend the named phenomenon in the interpretation of P. Hotez and in the perception of Russian politicians and diplomats . The results obtained and the generalization of the experience accumulated to date can be of value from the point of view of the further implementation of specialized science and foreign policy initiatives .

Russian Corporations Implementation of State Policy in Cooperation with Republic of Iraq (Field Development Example)

Introduction. Oil fields in the Republic of Iraq have traditionally been the subject to intense scrutiny of international fuel and energy companies. Iraq is one of the world leaders in terms of oil reserves. According to the Organization of Petroleum ExportingCountries (OPEC), Iraq ranks 4th in 2021 (145,019 million barrels). Russian oil companies are firmly expanding their presence in the Iraqi oil fields. In condition of unprecedented sanctions against Russia from the collective West, our country has to look for ways to ensure its energy sovereignty. Oil development in Iraq can be an effective way for Russian companies to achieve their potential. This article examines the prospects for increasing the reach of Russian oil companies in the oil fields of Iraq taking into account the current geopolitical situation, and the global agenda includes the opportunity for Russia to promote interests both in the Middle East and beyond.Materials and methods. In this study, general and particular scientific methods are applied. The genetic method should be highlighted, as it allowed to trace the process of formation and development of the Russian-Iraqi interaction, and to draw conclusion on the prospects for its expansion. The study also analyzes the international legal framework of Russian-Iraqi cooperation, oil production statistics in Iraq, materials published in the media, official statements by the Russian and Iraqi authorities.The results of the study. The conducted research allowed to substantiate the conclusion that Iraq is the most promising area for extending the activities of Russian oil companies. Nowadays, Russia and Iraq are following the path of multifaceted cooperation, including the economic sphere. Also, the prerequisites that favor joint activities of Russia and Iraq in the fuel and energy field are the proximity of the countries in the scientific and technical sphere, the extreme economic feasibility of increasing the volume of joint economic operations and the compliance of Russian-Iraqi collaboration with the national interests of both states.Discussion and conclusions. Partnership with the Republic of Iraq is of strategic importance for Russia in the Middle East. This is almost a win-win direction of foreign economic activity, since it brings mutual political and economic benefits. Iraq may become a new springboard for the penetration of Russian business deep into the Middle East region. It is necessary to further develop this course in order to adapt Russian politics and economy to the new realities of the international geopolitical situation.

Sovyetlerden Günümüze Rus Siyasetinde Renk Sembolizmi (Tarihsel ve Dilbilimsel Perspektif)

Siyasal sistemler, kitlelerin duyguları ile bilgilerini mobilize etmek, etkilemek ve yönlendirmek için çeşitli
 yol ve yöntemlere başvurur. Bunların belki de en etkilisi renk sembolizmidir. Zira renkler, hafızada kalıcı iz
 bırakan ve anlam zenginliği olan kültür sembolleridir. Bu sebeple bazen bir bayrakta, bazen bir afişte, bazen
 de bir sloganda siyasi bir araç olarak kullanılmaktadır. Hâl böyle olunca siyaset alanında gerçek
 niteliklerinden uzaklaşan renkler, simgesel anlam ve işlevler kazanmaktadır. Bu yolla siyasiler ile halk
 arasında hem hızlı bir iletişim hem de güçlü bir dayanışma sağlanabilmektedir. Bu yüzden siyasiler,
 ideolojik söylemlerini güçlü kılmak adına deyim, özlü söz, vecize gibi dilin söz varlıklarından
 faydalanmaktadır. Söz konusu ifadelerde geçen renklerin (siyah, beyaz ve kırmızı vb.) siyasi ideoloji ve
 kavramların yerini tuttukları varsayılmaktadır. Buradan hareketle bu çalışmada, Sovyetlerden beri Rus
 siyasetinde gelişen sosyo-politik olaylarda sembol değer olarak kullanılan renkler analiz edilmiştir. Bu
 incelemede siyaset dilinde zikredilen ve aynı zamanda medya ve halkın diline yansıyan “renkli” ifadelere
 başvurulmuştur. Bu siyasi söylemlerin betimsel yöntemle tanımları yapılmış, renklerin taşıdıkları
 metaforik ile metonimik anlamları belirlenmiş ve kullanım alanları örneklerle gösterilmiştir. Böylelikle, Rus
 siyasetinde renklerin anlam, imaj ve fonksiyonları belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır.
 İnceleme neticesinde, beyazın geçtiğimiz asrın başında demokrasinin, düzenin ve meşrutiyetin simgesi;
 günümüzde ise hükümet karşıtı sergilenen yasadışı eylemlerin sembol ifadesi olduğu saptanmıştır.
 Sovyetler zamanında direnişin, isyanın, devrimin simgesi kızıl renk iken eski Sovyet coğrafyasında batı
 destekli gerçekleşen devrim hareketlerinde kızılın yerini turuncuya bıraktığı anlaşılmıştır. Çarlık rejimi
 yanlısı ve devrim karşıtı Ortodoks, muhafazakâr, milliyetçi örgütlerin temsil renginin ise siyah olduğu tespit
 edilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonunda ise araştırmadan elde edilen bilgi ve bulgular derlenerek kısaca
 değerlendirilmiştir.

The Rhetorical Rise and Demise of “Democracy” in Russian Political Discourse , by David Cratis Williams, Marilyn J. Young, and Michael K. Launer

The Rhetorical Rise and Demise of “Democracy” in Russian Political Discourse , by David Cratis Williams, Marilyn J. Young, and Michael K. Launer

Power and leadership in small Russian monotowns

ABSTRACT This article presents the outcomes of an empirical study of power and leadership in three small Russian monotowns, conducted in 2011–2015 and 2018–2020. The study demonstrates the variability of power relations in Russian towns, despite the policy of centralization and the strengthening of authoritarian tendencies in Russian politics. The political process in monotowns retains its specificity due to the presence of town-forming enterprises, which largely determine the life of urban communities. Town-forming enterprises retain a high potential for influence in the political space of small towns, especially those enterprises that have solid economic resources and are successfully developing; their presence creates additional opportunities for the formation of an urban regime. The role of these enterprises in local politics varies significantly—from active participation to actual withdrawal. The differences largely depend on their economic potential and development prospects, as well as on a personal factor—the position of enterprise owners and the readiness of the leaders of municipal authorities and enterprises to cooperate.

Adventure in times of terror

This article follows the history of the idea of adventure in the Soviet Union, which started as a dream of the great communist adventure but two decades into the revolution turned into the nightmare of the Great Terror. Adventure was implicated in the violent realities of Stalinism through tropes of the adventure genre, such as the loneliness of the adventurer in a precarious world impenetrable by reason. Understanding this situation requires a focus on philosophies of both adventure and terror. For instance, Hegel’s philosophy of adventure will help us to reveal features of the lived experience in times of terror, whilst Mikhail Ryklin’s philosophy of terror sheds light on the significance of the adventure genre in the Soviet 1930s. This double focus allows articulation of a primary feature of violence that is often overlooked, namely, the fundamental reciprocity that structures it. In the Soviet context, we find historically neglected but critically important reflections on the relation between violence and adventure in the life and works of Lev Kopelev. We also find a unique deliberation on the dialectics of violence (and counter-violence) in Evgeni Shvarc’s adventure tale The Dragon (1943) which can be fruitfully read in dialogue with Arendt’s vital distinction between violence and power. Reconsidering these sources is an important task for today given that Russian politics has once again, 30 years after perestroika, regressed into mass violence.

Russian policy towards the “rose revolution” in Georgia

The article is devoted to the study of Russia’s policy towards the Rose revolution, which took place in November 2003 in Georgia. It became the first color revolution in the post-Soviet space, during which a complex of technologies for changing political regimes, tested in Serbia three years earlier, again demonstrated its eff ectiveness. Despite the fact that many aspects of this color revolution have received decent coverage in the scientifi c literature to date, the position and policy of the Russian state in relation to this coup d’etat still remain virtually unexplored. The article provides an overview of Russian-Georgian relations in the post-Soviet period, analyzes the reaction of the Russian authorities to the parliamentary elections held on November 2, 2003 in Georgia, evaluates and systematizes the statements and concrete steps of Russian politicians and diplomats during the implementation of the Rose revolution. The authors used documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, many of which are being introduced into scientifi c circulation for the fi rst time, electronic resources of Russian state authorities, materials from leading Russian and foreign media. It is concluded that in order to preserve political stability in Georgia, Moscow took a neutral position and even contributed to the settlement of the internal crisis in the country, but as a result of the color revolution anti-Russian forces came to power in Tbilisi, whose policy subsequently led to a significant deterioration of Russian-Georgian relations and to an aggravation of the situation in the South Caucasus region as a whole.

Stalin’s Creation & Jackson’s Contribution

Interest in the Nuremberg trials is booming once again. Soviet Judgment at Nuremberg—by Francine Hirsch, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison—is about the Soviet role in the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg. The book has acquired new relevance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in violation of international law. Strikingly, not only have the Ukrainian government, and some Western politicians and scholars of international law floated the idea of a new Nuremberg Tribunal, Russian Duma members have as well. Writing recently in Time magazine, Hirsch argued that indicting Vladimir Putin and leading Russian politicians for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression would require the creation of an ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal or Special Tribunal. Such an indictment, however, should not have a political character, Hirsch points out, but such a trial would offer the possibility of creating a “complete historical record.” A “Nuremberg 2.0” organized by the Russian government would be a “dark alternative” in Hirsch’s eyes. She writes in Time magazine: “This would inevitably be a Soviet-style show trial—a kangaroo court that would degrade international law and could taint the meaning of Nuremberg forever.”1 This viewpoint—that the Soviet Union was fixed on political show trials much as the Putin government may be today—is reflected in Hirsch’s book. However, Hirsch also suggests that international criminal trials always have a political character or partisan interest that must be considered ambivalently: in a positive light, because there is a didactic goal in coming to terms with the past through criminal proceedings; and in a negative light, because impartiality is questionable if the crimes of only one warring party are tried.

Критика «русского северянства» в эмигрантских работах Василия Шульгина

The article examines the question of the evolution of the ideological and political views of the famous Russian politician and writer Vasily Vitalievich Shulgin (1888–1976). Being a convinced “Russian Southerner” by his identity, Shulgin actively criticized the unilateral manifestations of “Russian Northerners” (in the “Moscow” and then “Petersburg” periods), which, in his opinion, eventually led to the degradation of the Russian ruling class and the collapse of traditional Russian statehood.