As long as Moscow controls the narrative, the control remains. But when that control weakens, historical memory becomes one of the most powerful tools of national self-determination. And that is why official historiography tries so hard to suppress it.
The publishing house Ibidem Press has announced the publication of the English version of our book. We expect the book to be on sale in the fall of 2025. The book will be published in the series Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society.
Until the West understands that Russia’s wars are not about territory but about meaning, about the restoration of metaphysical order, it will always underestimate the stakes. The West must stop treating Moscow’s imperial schizophrenia as a quirk. It is a strategic doctrine, with historical depth and apocalyptic ambitions.
They are heading for a great depression, and the speed of their progress depends on Ukraine and its allies. We must not give up or even allow Russian propaganda to penetrate the offices and minds of high-ranking officials of our allies. Unless the war stops, the Russian Federation has no way to get off this “carousel” without fatal losses compatible with scenarios of its collapse.
We are dealing with a phenomenon that is developing in our time continuum. Ruscism is being formed before our eyes (under the influence of internal and external circumstances) into a totalitarian regime with its own ideology. And it does so quite quickly.
The fundamental question for researchers of international relations vis-a-vis explaining Russian aggression in the second half of the 20th and during the 21st century is whether that aggression can be attributed to ideology or inherent imperialism.
I understand that this is just a statement of the problem. The answer to the question of what we should do with Russia. It will be more difficult to answer the question of how to do it technologically. My preliminary answer is – in stages, multivariate and flexible. But we need to keep this strategic goal in our short-term memory already now.