Russian Eurasianism: An Ideology of Empire - Paperback

by Marlène Laruelle (Author)

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has been marginalized at the edge of a Western-dominated political and economic system. In recent years, however, leading Russian figures, including former president Vladimir Putin, have begun to stress a geopolitics that puts Russia at the center of a number of axes: European-Asian, Christian-Muslim-Buddhist, Mediterranean-Indian, Slavic-Turkic, and so on.

This volume examines the political presuppositions and expanding intellectual impact of Eurasianism, a movement promoting an ideology of Russian-Asian greatness, which has begun to take hold throughout Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. Eurasianism purports to tell Russians what is unalterably important about them and why it can only be expressed in an empire. Using a wide range of sources, Marl ne Laruelle discusses the impact of the ideology of Eurasianism on geopolitics, interior policy, foreign policy, and culturalist philosophy.

Front Jacket

Since the dissolution of the USSR, an ideology promoting Russian-Asian greatness
has taken hold among an influential group of Russian scholars and intellectuals. The
ideology, Eurasianism, purports to tell Russians what is unalterably important about
them and why it can only be expressed in an empire. In Russian Eurasianism: An
Ideology of Empire, Marlène Laruelle examines the presuppositions and impact of this
movement.

"This book is a tour de force not merely because of the depth of the scholarship and
the skill of the argument but also because Laruelle unveils a subject crucial to
understanding today's Russia but never given proper due."--Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs

"Russian Eurasianism is a lucid and rational guide, based on thorough scholarship and
an admirable reluctance to sensationalize or to claim too much."--Edmund Griffiths, Times Literary Supplement

"Russian Eurasianism is a must-read for intellectual historians, policymakers, cultural
scholars, Russia watchers, or, for that matter, anyone who uneasily senses that
something is moving in the deep currents beneath the surface of contemporary
Russia, but is not sure of what it is."--Maria Carlson, The Russian Review

"Laruelle's scrutiny of neo-Eurasianism is sympathetic, balanced and perceptive--
a signal achievement given the muddled, and sometimes messianic, nature of much
Eurasianist writing."--John Berryman, International Affairs

"The author writes with an erudition and breadth of insight that is unique in the
burgeoning field of what we might call 'Eurasianism studies.' The basic point to
emerge from her study is the utterly extraordinary ideological malleability of
Eurasianism."--Mark Bassin, Slavic Review

--Willard Sunderland, University of Cincinnati "Europe-Asia Studies"

Back Jacket

Since the dissolution of the USSR, an ideology promoting Russian-Asian greatness
has taken hold among an influential group of Russian scholars and intellectuals. The
ideology, Eurasianism, purports to tell Russians what is unalterably important about
them and why it can only be expressed in an empire. In Russian Eurasianism: An
Ideology of Empire, Marlène Laruelle examines the presuppositions and impact of this
movement.

"This book is a tour de force not merely because of the depth of the scholarship and
the skill of the argument but also because Laruelle unveils a subject crucial to
understanding today's Russia but never given proper due."--Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs

"Russian Eurasianism is a lucid and rational guide, based on thorough scholarship and
an admirable reluctance to sensationalize or to claim too much."--Edmund Griffiths, Times Literary Supplement

"Russian Eurasianism is a must-read for intellectual historians, policymakers, cultural
scholars, Russia watchers, or, for that matter, anyone who uneasily senses that
something is moving in the deep currents beneath the surface of contemporary
Russia, but is not sure of what it is."--Maria Carlson, The Russian Review

"Laruelle's scrutiny of neo-Eurasianism is sympathetic, balanced and perceptive--
a signal achievement given the muddled, and sometimes messianic, nature of much
Eurasianist writing."--John Berryman, International Affairs

"The author writes with an erudition and breadth of insight that is unique in the
burgeoning field of what we might call 'Eurasianism studies.' The basic point to
emerge from her study is the utterly extraordinary ideological malleability of
Eurasianism."--Mark Bassin, Slavic Review

Author Biography

Marlène Laruelle is currently a research fellow at the Central Asia and Caucasus Institute of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University. In Paris, she is an associate scholar at the French Center for Russian, Caucasian, and East-European Studies at the School of Advanced Social Sciences Studies.