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The 'Russian World' and the Orthodox Church in the post-Soviet Space
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This chapter discusses the spiritual ties between the post-Soviet countries and the way in which the Russian state has attempted to make use of them. First, the evolution and connotations of the Russian World (russkiy mir) concept will be elaborated: how it has been applied in Russia’s political discourse, and whether or how it is different from the parallel concept of ‘Holy Rus’’ (svyataya Rus’), crucial for the Russian Orthodox Church.
The connections of individual post-Soviet countries to this ‘spiritual’ Russian World will then be briefly discussed, focusing on those countries that have a strong tradition of Orthodox belief and/or close ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. Finally, the chapter analyses the question of how the Russian state, with support of the Russian Orthodox Church, has aimed at politicizing the spiritual bonds between the post-Soviet
countries.
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... The fall of the Soviet empire re-arranged the realities and settings of Russo-Ukrainian The Russian World, became entwined with the Russian Orthodox Church, and spirituality became an attempt to connect the former Soviet states under Russia's influence (Laine 2019;197). The concept became used to refer to Russians (or Russian speakers) who live outside of Russian borders. ...
... Russian World refers to ´mental´ Russia extending beyond the Russian borders and holding symbolic power. However, the ability to use it as a political tool is more complicated (Laine 2019;197 ...
This thesis discusses the construction of church-state relations and Ukrainian nationhood through the memory of the political framing of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s Facebook communication. Since the Revolution of Dignity, the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine became an aspiration for anti-Moscow politicians. Russia’s Russkiy Mir initiative became recognized as a security threat to Ukrainian independence, and the process of gaining autocephaly from the Patriarchate of Constantinople became an attempt to detach Ukraine from Moscow’s imperial narrative.
After the autocephaly, the political narratives emphasizing church-state relations became less topical, but the situation changed after Russia’s War Against Ukraine broke out in 2022. Ukrainian politicians and the heads of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine again stressed the church-state connection.
The memory political framing of the data suggests that Ukrainian nationhood is being built in relation to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, two of which are bound together by one inseparable past. This interpretation highlights Ukraine and OCU as heirs to the legacy of Kyivan Rus and the Byzantium tradition, as well as Ukraine’s path as part of European civilization.
This volume is timely in that it explores key issues which are currently at the forefront of the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours. It considers the impact of a more assertive Russia, the significance of Turkey, the limitations of the Eastern Partnership with Belarus and Moldova, the position of a Ukraine in crisis and pulled between Russia and the EU, security and democracy in the South Caucasus. It looks at the contested nature of European identity in areas such as the Balkans. In addition it looks at ways in which the EU’s interests and values can be tested in sectors such as trade and migration. The interplay between values, identity and interests and their effect on the interpretation of europeanisation between the EU and its neighbours is a core theme of the volume.
Russia’s relationship with China has a long and complex history, catalysed by the lengthy border
between the two countries, the complementarity of their economies and the ambitions of both to be
seen as key global geo-political actors. Following periods of tension and friendship in the Soviet era,
when the two communist states often struggled to find a mutual understanding, the post-Soviet era has
seen a more complicated relationship develop based as much on economic reality as political ideology.
Russia’s economy has suffered collapse and recovery, often driven by oil price volatility, and has yet to
achieve much-craved stability and consistent growth. China, meanwhile, has genuinely become an
economic superpower, having enjoyed growth rates in the 7-15% per annum range since the mid1990s1 and has now become the second largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP.
This article investigates whether and how regional international organizations created by authoritarian countries can aid the regime survival of their member states. Numerous regions of the world have witnessed a proliferation of regional organizations established by powerful authoritarian states. We argue that the external influence of these organizations can affect regime survival and reinforce non-democratic regime trajectories, but in a nuanced manner. The article argues that, in addition to examining the impact of the regional organization itself, one must examine how the existence of these regional organizations changes the strategy of autocratic leading states, which—in bilateral relations with other countries—could become more eager to support authoritarian regimes of geopolitical importance. We use the case of the Eurasian Economic Union to explore various strategies of Russia, the leading state, vis-à-vis post-Soviet Eurasian countries. These strategies, however, appear only to matter for authoritarian consolidation when countries, from the Russian point of view, are on the ‘front line’ of geopolitical competition with the EU, and which are, therefore, important in stabilizing Russian influence. The article identifies five strategic foreign policy models of leading states which are determined by the existence of regional organizations and evaluates the benefits of these strategies for both leading and targeted states.
The first English-language book to document the men who emerged from the gulags to become Russia's much-feared crime class: the vory v zakone Mark Galeotti is the go-to expert on organized crime in Russia, consulted by governments and police around the world. Now, Western readers can explore the fascinating history of the vory v zakone, a group that has survived and thrived amid the changes brought on by Stalinism, the Cold War, the Afghan War, and the end of the Soviet experiment. The vory-as the Russian mafia is also known-was born early in the twentieth century, largely in the Gulags and criminal camps, where they developed their unique culture. Identified by their signature tattoos, members abided by the thieves' code, a strict system that forbade all paid employment and cooperation with law enforcement and the state. Based on two decades of on-the-ground research, Galeotti's captivating study details the vory's journey to power from their early days to their adaptation to modern-day Russia's free-wheeling oligarchy and global opportunities beyond.