1st Edition

The Extreme Nationalist Threat in Russia The Growing Influence of Western Rightist Ideas

By Thomas Parland Copyright 2005
    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    252 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book examines the nature of the extreme right in contemporary Russia, arguing in particular that, alongside a continuing tradition which emphasizes Russia's orthodox and traditional past, an increasingly important intellectual current is drawing on Western European neo-fascist ideas and adapting them to the Russian situation. This book examines this intellectual current within the context of increasing conservatism across Russia as a whole, showing how the new ideas have an impact right across the political spectrum, and assessing the threat posed by them and their proponents.

    Introduction 1. Modernization and Conservative Backlash 2. Yeltsin's Russia as a Divided Country - A seedbed of growing conservatism 3. Actors of the Conservative Resistance: Movements and Parties 4. The 'Third Way' Worldview in the Westernising of Russia 5. Geopolitics as a Conservative Weltanschauung - The clash of civilizations 6. Russian Racism as a Conservative Weltanschauung 7. Putin's Russia: Towards a Synthesis? Conclusions

    Biography

    Thomas Parland received his doctorate in 1993 from the University of Helsinki, where he is a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Helsinki. He served at the Foreign Ministry of Finland as senior analyst on Russian affairs from 1995 to 2002. He specialises in Russian nationalism and has worked as a teacher of Russian, an interpreter and translator.

    'An interpretive study' - Slavic Review