The Evolution of the Putin Regime's Ideology

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The panel is devoted to the evolution the Putin regime's ideology in comparison to the dynamic of other contemporary autocracies. In the midst of the Third wave of democratization many observers believed that the ideological contestation between the West and Communism was over, concluding in the former’s victory and a renewed global ideological confrontation was barely a possibility. Accordingly, the assumption was that weltanschauung ideologies as methods of autocratic legitimation would become irrelevant and cast off for the lack of an alternative to the Western model. These assumptions led to a popular conclusion that today’s autocracies fundamentally differ from their twentieth century predecessors in that they are not ideologically driven. However, recent trends in Putin’s Russia seem to defy those expectations. In the last decade, and particularly after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Putin regime has doubled down on ideology-promotion. Panelists will discuss the peculiarities of Putin's regime ideology-building, the elites’ commitment and willingness to work with the leadership toward common ideological objectives, the effort at codification and indoctrination, and the regime’s ability to offer universalist vision of the future. Beyond Russia alone, the panelists will explore the implications of the recent changes in Russia to our understanding of contemporary autocracies. Did the nature of today’s autocratic regimes alter as radically as originally thoughts, or are many of them still in need of ideological legitimation in the eyes of their constituencies?

Sub Unit

• Politics/Law

Chair

• Steven Allan Fisher, Independent Scholar

Papers

• In Search for Coherence in a Dynamic Context: Post-February 24 Ideological Construction in Russia - Marlene Laruelle, George Washington U

• Regime Ideology of Putinism in Historical Perspective - Mikhail D Suslov, U of Copenhagen (Denmark)

• Propaganda Coverage of Russia's War in Ukraine - Alexander Smoljanski, Integrum World Wide

• Dissecting Putin’s Regime Ideology - Maria Snegovaya, Johns Hopkins U