Marlene Laruelle | The George Washington University (original) (raw)

Books and volumes by Marlene Laruelle

‘Nationalism’, ‘Conservatism’? Competition and Overlaps in the Kremlin’s Narrative, International Conference “The State and Political Discourse in Today’s Russia,” George Washington University and Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations conference, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy, June 17-18

Mapping Illiberal Production in a Russian Context: Bottom Up and Top Down, International conference “Intellectuals against liberal democracy. Academia, media, and culture,” Paris Institute for Advanced Study, June 2-3

In examining the re-emergence of Russia's White Movement, Memory Politics and the Russian Civil W... more In examining the re-emergence of Russia's White Movement, Memory Politics and the Russian Civil War gets to the heart of the rich 20th-century memory debates going on in Putin's Russia today.

The Kremlin has been giving preference to a Soviet-lite nostalgia that denounces the 1917 Bolshevik revolution but celebrates the birth of a powerful Soviet Union able to bring the country to the forefront of the international scene after the victory in World War II. Yet in parallel, another historical narrative has gradually consolidated on the Russian public scene, one that favours the opposite camp, namely the White movement and the pro-tsarist groups defeated in the early 1920s. This book offers the first comprehensive exploration of this 'White Revenge', looking at the different actors who promote a White and pro-Romanov rehabilitation agenda in the political, ideological and cultural arenas and what this historical agenda might mean for Russia, both today and tomorrow.

analysis of Kazakhstan's independence generations. Its focus on social transformations of the las... more analysis of Kazakhstan's independence generations. Its focus on social transformations of the last three decades is an important contribution to breaking with established, and increasingly irrelevant, narratives about the region of Central Asia."-NARGIS KASSENOVA, Harvard University Half of Kazakhstan's population was born during Nursultan Nazarbayev's almost three decades in power. These young generations have lived in a world of political stability and relative material affluence and have developed a strong consumerist culture. Even with growing government restrictions on media, religion, and formal public expression, they have been raised in a comparatively free country. Who are they? What do they think and wish? What are their social and cultural practices and behaviors? How do they see the world and Kazakhstan's place in it? This book offers the first collective study of the "Nazarbayev Generation" and illuminates the diversity of the country's younger generations and the transformations of social and cultural norms that have taken place over the course of three decades. The contributors to this collection move away from state-centric, top-down perspectives in favor of grassroots realities and bottom-up dynamics in order to better integrate sociological data.

At the crossroads of Russia, China, and the Islamic world, Central Asia remains one of the world'... more At the crossroads of Russia, China, and the Islamic world, Central Asia remains one of the world's least-understood regions, despite being a significant theater for muscle-flexing by the great powers and regional players. This series, in conjunction with George Washington University's Central Asia Program, offers insight into Central Asia by providing readers unique access to state-of-the-art knowledge on the region. Going beyond the media clichés, the series inscribes the study of Central Asia into the social sciences and hopes to fill the dearth of works on the region for both scholarly knowledge and undergraduate and graduate student education.

This volume explores the changing place of Islam in contemporary Central Asia, understanding reli... more This volume explores the changing place of Islam in contemporary Central Asia, understanding religion as a "societal shaper" -a roadmap for navigating quickly evolving social and cultural values. Islam can take on multiple colors and identities, from a purely transcendental faith in God to a cauldron of ideological ferment for political ideology, via diverse culture-, community-, and history-based phenomena. The volumes discusses what it means to be a Muslim in today's Central Asia by looking at both historical and sociological features, investigates the relationship between Islam, politics and the state, the changing role of Islam in terms of societal values, and the issue of female attire as a public debate.

What role do market forces play in the process of media democratization, and how do state structu... more What role do market forces play in the process of media democratization, and how do state structures regulate, suppress, or use capitalism toward their own gain? What degree of informational pluralism has been achieved in the independent republics? What are the prospects for transparency and the participation of civil society in Russian and Eurasian media? To what degree do trends in post-Communist media reflect global trends? Is there a worldwide convergence with regard to both media formats and political messaging? This collection of research papers covers major trends of the informational environment in the post-Communist world and its recent development, with special focus on Russia and the post-Soviet space. The term 'informational environment' is meant to cover here not just traditional print and electronic media, but new media as well, and to range from the political to entertainment as well as various artistic spheres. Western observers usually pay their keenest attention to the role of media in Russia and Eurasia during national elections. While this is a valid focus, the present volume aims at understanding the deeper overall 'media philosophies' that characterize post-Soviet media systems and environments, and the type of identity formation that they are promoting.

The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in the history of mankind, and the circu... more The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in the history of mankind, and the circumpolar regions are not exempt from this global process. This evolution is linked to the development of industrial activities, as well as to the rise of services, public administration, and tourism. While this trend affects all of the circumpolar countries, it impacts Russia the most. Russia has built a unique urban fabric in the Arctic, with half a dozen cities of between 100,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. Because of their combination of historic, demographic, and economic features, Russian Arctic cities offer a distinctive field to observe and understand issues related to circumpolar urbanization.

Жанна Эдуардовна Каспарьян Центр гуманитарных проблем Баренц-региона Кольского научного центра РА... more Жанна Эдуардовна Каспарьян Центр гуманитарных проблем Баренц-региона Кольского научного центра РАН More urban, less Arctic? Convergence and Divergence: The case of the Ob river region

“National Identity and the Contested Nation,” in Richard Sakwa, Henry E. Hale, Stephen White, eds., Developments in Russian Politics 9 (Duhram: Duke University Press), 67-79

Duhram: Duke University Press, 2018

“Alexander Dugin and Eurasianism,” in Mark Sedgwick, ed., Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), 155-169.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019

“Conservative Forces and the State: A Dynamic Balancing Act,” in Susanne Wrengle, ed. Russian Politics Today. Stability and Fragility (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 365-289

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022

“Islamic Political Ideologies in Post-Soviet Russia,” in Gregory Simons, Marat Shterin, and Eric Shiraev, eds, Islam in Russia: Religion, Politics, and Society (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers), 31-48.

“Eurasianism. A Continental Ideology for the Political Right,” in Ian Klinke, ed., Rightwing International Thought and the Critique of Liberal Orders (Oxford University Press)

Oxford University Press, 2025

“Ideological Complementarity or Competition? The Kremlin, the Church, and the Monarchist Idea in Today's Russia,” Slavic Review 79, no. 2, 345-364.

Slavic Review, 2020

“Culturalizing the Nation: A Quantitative Approach to the Russkii/Rossiiskii Semantic Space in Russia’s Political Discourse”

Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 2023

Accepted, under production. “Russian Public Opinion on State Ideology and the Predominance of National-Conservatism,”

Russian Politics

“Patriotism from Below in Russia”

Europe-Asia Studies, 2015

L’Idéologie eurasiste russe ou comment penser l’empire (Paris: L’Harmattan)

Mythe aryen et rêve impérial dans la Russie tsariste (Paris: CNRS-Editions)

Russia: Great Power, Weakened State (Lanham, Boulder, New York: Rowman & Littlefield)

Second, revised version. Translated from French: La Russie entre peurs et défis (Paris: Armand Co... more Second, revised version. Translated from French: La Russie entre peurs et défis (Paris: Armand Colin, 2016)

Ideology and Meaning-Making under Putin Regime (Stanford: Stanford University Press)

To be translated in French by the Presses Universitaires de France

The manosphere has gained new impetus worldwide these last years. By manosphere we define a netwo... more The manosphere has gained new impetus worldwide these last years. By manosphere we define a network of online communities who promote anti-feminist beliefs and encourage resentment or hatred toward women. Some groups focus on political changes slowing down or stopping women's rights movements and promoting legal changes in favor of men (men's rights activists, or MRAs); others advocate for men to avoid women (men going their own way, or MGTOW) or state that men are entitled to sexual relationships but cannot find partners (involuntary celibates, or Incels). The manosphere has also reached Russia, where several American ideological constructs have raised interest among radical right groups. A vocal version of the manosphere à la russe has been the group the Male State (muzhskoe gosudarstvo), which gained its maximal media visibility in summer 2021 before getting banned by the Russian judicial authorities for extremism in October 2021. Dismissing the movement as just wacko hides how the Male State embodied important trends of Russian pre-war society and capitalized on them. First, obviously, it highlights the transnationalization of culture wars and the fertile soil that Russia represents for them. Second, it confirms the central role played by entrepreneurs of influence: by this term we define activists who promote an ideological agenda-in today's Russia, mostly a conservative or reactionary one-connected to financial profitability, and hopes to get political rewards for it. Third, the Male State case illustrates the difficult equilibrium of the prewar Russian authorities between promoting conservative values and repressing radical groups. The partial decriminalization of domestic violence in 2017 and numerous debates that followed on the impact of this decision played a role in the online visibility of this anti-women hate group. And last but least, the Male State case reveals the understudied role of the corporate sector as an actor of these culture wars-in this case on the progressive side. The Male State emerged in 2016. It was inspired by a misogynist group active on the Russian equivalent of Facebook, VKontakte, named PRO-Sh (About Whores), which had about 5,000 subscribers. Its founder, Vladislav Pozdniakov, never finished medical school, and worked as a fitness trainer for some years. He then first specialized in identifying social network pages of porn actresses and harassing them and then expanded his actions by trolling and cyberbullying interracial families, as well as Russian women dating non-Russian men, a "specialty" in which the group was particularly active during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2020-2021, the Male State (masculist.ru) reached 170,000 members on VKontakte, and developed several parallel Telegram and Tik-Tok groups. His main Telegram reached more than 110,000 followers during its peak of activism in summer 2021.

Russia's strategic concerns regarding the post-Cold War European security architecture, as expres... more Russia's strategic concerns regarding the post-Cold War European security architecture, as expressed in the two treaty drafts published by Moscow in December 2021, may be seen as legitimate, or at least deserving to be heard and taken seriously. The new lines of argument expressed in Vladimir Putin's Feb. 21 and Feb. 24 speeches, however, have irrevocably strayed from those initial concerns. For a long time, the Kremlin was able to strike a balance between Russia's pragmatic strategic interests and its more ideologically loaded constructs inspired by different brands of conservative and/or nationalist thinking. This balance now seems to have been lost, a sign of the ascent of an increasingly rigid ideology in the Kremlin. This week's speeches have confirmed this dramatic turn, with the construction of a narrative legitimizing the military intervention in Ukraine along three key ideological lines: a historical one, an ethnic one and a political one.

This paper was presented at a workshop on religion and populism held December 3, 2021.

The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debat... more The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. As an independent think tank, Ifri sets its own research agenda, publishing its findings regularly for a global audience. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Ifri brings together political and economic decision-makers, researchers and internationally renowned experts to animate its debate and research activities. The opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author alone. This text is published with the support of DGRIS (Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry of the Armed Forces), under "Russia, Caucasus and Eastern Europe Observatory".

Relations (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and... more Relations (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. As an independent think tank, Ifri sets its own research agenda, publishing its findings regularly for a global audience. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Ifri brings together political and economic decision-makers, researchers and internationally renowned experts to animate its debate and research activities. The opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author alone. This text is published with the support of DGRIS

Russia’s Arctic, a Changing Geopolitical and Environmental Context (Bloomsbury, planned for September 2025)

Revised and developed from the French version: L’Arctique russe, un nouveau front stratégique (Ca... more Revised and developed from the French version: L’Arctique russe, un nouveau front stratégique (Cahiers de l’Observatoire, 2024)

Many cities of Russia's Far North face a massive population decline, with the exception of those ... more Many cities of Russia's Far North face a massive population decline, with the exception of those based on oil and gas extraction in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. Yet, there is one more exception to that trend: the city of Yakutsk, capital of the Sakha ( Yakutia) Republic, whose population is booming, having grown from 186,000 in 1989 to 338,000 in 2018, This unique demographic dynamism is founded on the massive exodus of the ethnic Yakut population from rural parts of the republic to the capital city, a process that has reshaped the urban cultural landscape, making Yakutsk a genuine indigenous regional capital, the only one of its kind in the Russian Far North.

At a time when urbanization represents a major trend in human history and when the majority of th... more At a time when urbanization represents a major trend in human history and when the majority of the world's population lives in an urban environment, the urban regime theory, developed by Clarence Stone in the 1980s, offers an insightful framework for discussing how urban stakeholders are compelled to work together to achieve their goals. While research on urban regimes has historically focused mainly on democratic contexts, this article argues that it is time to use urban regime theory in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian countries in order to better understand how urban politics develop. With growing urban activism and huge territorial contrasts, Russia offers a good case study for testing the notion of "urban regime." This article focuses on three cities in Russia's Far North-Murmansk, Norilsk, and Yakutsk-that face common sustainability challenges in Arctic or subarctic conditions; it delves into the mechanisms of their urban regimes and categorizes them by type: instrumental, organic, and symbolic. Access Full Article Online

“Warmer Climate of Arctic Cities,” in O. Pokrovsky et al. eds, The Arctic: Current Issues and Challenges, Hauppage, NY: NOVA Publishers, co-authored Esau I., Varentsov M., Miles M.W., Konstantinov P., Soromotin A., Baklanov A. A. and Miles V. V. , 2020

The International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) has recently envisioned a number of detrimental... more The International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) has recently envisioned a number of detrimental environmental effects and challenges that will emerge with the global warming in excess of the 1.5 o C limit set by the Paris Agreement. The Arctic was mentioned as a particularly vulnerable region on the Earth with rapid and amplified warming affecting all components of the cryosphere and biosphere. This chapter characterizes even larger warm temperature anomalies and corresponding environmental changes in the urban Arctic. A large share of the Arctic population is currently living in 1.5 o C and even 3.0 o C warmer climate. We report the urban temperature anomalies-urban heat islands (UHIs)-in 11 Arctic cities. The Arctic urban climate is significantly warmer, especially during the coldest weather spells, than the corresponding regional climate. The winter UHI during the polar night is supported by the anthropogenic heat flux and enhanced air pollution in cities. The summer UHI during the polar day is supported by stronger warming of better drained urban surface. We show that the UHI intensity depends on the land cover types of the surrounding environment. The Arctic UHI is localized, but still affects an area 2-3 times larger than the city itself. The warmer temperatures enhance the vegetation productivity creating "green belts" around cities and towns. Sustainability studies revealed that better * Corresponding Author Email: igore@nersc.no.

Французский Институт Международных Отношений (Ифри) является ведущим независимым центром исследов... more Французский Институт Международных Отношений (Ифри) является ведущим независимым центром исследований, информации и общественных дебатов в области актуальных международных вопросов во Франции. Он был создан в 1979 году Тьерри де Монбриалем и имеет статус общественно значимой ассоциации (согласно французскому закону об ассоциациях 1901 г.). Институт не подчинен какому-либо административному органу, самостоятельно определяет направления своей деятельности и регулярно публикует результаты своих исследований.

The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for d... more The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental, non-profit organization.

Marlene Laruella

Many cities of Russia's Far North face a massive population decline, with the exception of those ... more Many cities of Russia's Far North face a massive population decline, with the exception of those based on oil and gas extraction in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. Yet, there is one more exception to that trend: the city of Yakutsk, capital of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, whose population is booming, having grown from 186,000 in 1989 to 338,000 in 2018, This unique demographic dynamism is founded on the massive exodus of the ethnic Yakut population from rural parts of the republic to the capital city, a process that has reshaped the urban cultural landscape, making Yakutsk a genuine indigenous regional capital, the only one of its kind in the Russian Far North.

This article advances the notion of "Polar Islam" to describe the birth and structuring of Muslim... more This article advances the notion of "Polar Islam" to describe the birth and structuring of Muslim communities in Russia's Arctic cities. It does not assert that Arctic conditions have created an entirely specific Islam; most of the features attributed here to "Polar Islam" can easily be found in other regions of Russia. Yet the climatic conditions, remoteness, and heavy industrial character of these cities contribute to accentuating certain characteristics that mold the social landscape in which Muslims live, thereby offering a fascinating regional case study of the development of Islam. This article first explores the emergence of Islamic symbols-mosques-on the Arctic urban landscape and the institutional struggles around the control of this Polar Islam. It then delves into Muslim communities' cultural adaptation to their new Arctic identity. The blossoming of this Polar Islam confirms that Islam is no longer geographically segregated in its traditional regions, such as the North Caucasus and the Volga-Urals; it has spread to all the country's big cities. In this respect, Arctic cities are at the forefront of Russia's societal transformations.

The 2014 Arctic Human Development Report identified "Arctic settlements, cities, and communities"... more The 2014 Arctic Human Development Report identified "Arctic settlements, cities, and communities" as one of the main gaps in knowledge of the region. This article looks at circumpolar urbanisation trends. It dissociates three historical waves of Arctic urbanisation: from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century (the "colonial" wave), from the 1920s to the 1980s in the specific case of the Soviet urbanisation of the Arctic (the "Soviet" wave), and from the 1960s−70s to the present as a circumpolar trend (the "globalized" wave). It then discusses the three drivers of the latest urbanisation wave (resources, militarisation, and public services) and the prospects for Arctic cities' sustainability in the near future.

The arrival into geography, and especially urban geography, of a frame of questioning coming from... more The arrival into geography, and especially urban geography, of a frame of questioning coming from postcolonial studies has contributed to a fascinating debate about what a "postcolonial" city is and how the urban duality between ethnically, socially, and spatially segregated "European" towns and "native" settlements is being reformulated and transformed. Obviously, Arctic cities are not postcolonial in the political sense of being independent from the former colonial centre-although this process may be under way in Greenland-but they have seen a progressive move from a Eurocentric culture toward greater hybridization. This article looks into two new trends that contribute to making Arctic cities postcolonial: first, the arrival of indigenous peoples in cities and the concomitant diminution of the division between Europeans/urbanites and natives/rurals; and second, the arrival of labour migrants from abroad, which has given birth to a more plural and cosmopolitan citizenry. It advances the idea that Arctic cities are now in a position to play a "decolonizing" role, in the sense of progressively erasing the purely European aspect of the city and making it both more local and rooted (through indigenous communities) and more global and multicultural (through foreign labour migrants).

Although there is a growing body of research on Arctic urbanisation and the development of cities... more Although there is a growing body of research on Arctic urbanisation and the development of cities in harsh polar climate, few studies focus on the long-term interaction of urban environments with the natural world and society. As the search for determinative links between natural environmental characteristics and socio-cultural phenomena is exceedingly complex and obscured by human decision-making, it is more fruitful to adopt another perspective-one that views the city as an anthropogenic object combining natural, social, and cultural features and phenomena. The HIARC (Anthropogenic Heat Islands in the Arctic-Windows to the Future of the Regional Climates, Ecosystems and Society) project helps to fill this knowledge gap by bringing together traditional climate science that operates on large spatial and time scales; micro-level high-resolution studies that provide relevant practical details about the changing environment; bio-medical science that studies the physical adaptation of newcomers to the Arctic environment; and an array of social science approaches that range from political science on urban regimes to sociology and cultural anthropology that capture evolving human environments. This article offers a preliminary agenda for thinking about cities as an anthropogenic object in a polar context.

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on Arctic migration and urban sustainability by e... more This paper aims to contribute to the discussion on Arctic migration and urban sustainability by exploring the case of Norilsk, the first sizeable circumpolar city in the world entirely built on permafrost. Norilsk represents an archetypal model of mobility flows managed by a 'big business' firm. Indeed, between the 1960s and 1980s, the city's metallurgical complex promoted massive in-migration, followed by massive out-migration in the post-Soviet decades, with several projects of 'managed decline'. The rich research done on mobility patterns in Russia's North still lacks detailed case studies of demographic evolutions at the urban level, a gap in knowledge that this paper hopes to address by looking at the evolution of Norilsk's population over the longue durée, from the Soviet era to contemporary in-migration flows. This paper also aims to enrich the literature on Arctic identities by investigating the paradoxes of Norilsk urban identity as it is lived by several generations of inhabitants.

A pristine area that has largely been preserved from external influences, the Arctic faces danger... more A pristine area that has largely been preserved from external influences, the Arctic faces dangers coming from climate change and the growing appetite of energy firms—not to mention the challenges associated with a burgeoning tourism industry. Social and cultural interactions have been crucial in shaping human development in the Arctic for centuries: scientific exploration, the progressive settlement of European populations on indigenous territories, and the urbanization of the Soviet Far North. One example among many, today between two-thirds and 90 percent of the population of Russia's Arctic regions is urbanized. These changes are accelerating with the rapid globalization of the region and its integration into global flows of people and goods.

Н емногие проекты развития так возбуждают воображение, как Северный морской путь, также называемы... more Н емногие проекты развития так возбуждают воображение, как Северный морской путь, также называемый Северо-восточный морской коридор, проходящий вдоль арктического побережья России. Маршрут связан с исто-рией крупнейших полярных экспедиций, от Беринга в XVIII в. до недавних арктических экспедиций в период изменения климата. С ним также связаны воспоми-нания о советской гигантомании и упорном стремлении к промышленному освоению самых удаленных и мало приспособленных для жизни регионов континентальной Сибири. В течение последних лет вокруг Северного морского пути возникали оживленные дискуссии (в отличие от его канадского эквивалента, так называемого Северо-западного коридора): на фоне международной озабоченности потеплением климата высказывались самые невероятные прогнозы по поводу превращения Севморпути в новый Суэцкий канал, который станет поводом для новой «Большой игры» между державами, бьющимися за полезные ископаемые. Но предположения такого рода – результат незнания арктической реальности, и сегодня этот «мыльный пузырь» уступил место гораздо более скромным прогнозам, основанным на повседневных реалиях и проблемах, которые российское госу-дарство должно решать по ходу развития арктических территорий страны.
Марлен Ларюэль, преподаватель Университета Джорджа Вашингтона (США).

Pandemic Politics in Eurasia: Roadmap for a New Research Subfield

Problems of Post-Communism, 2020

Russia’s African Toolkit: Digital Influence and Entrepreneurs of Influence,”

Orbis, 2021

“’Beyond Hybrid Warfare’: A Digital Exploration of Russia’s Entrepreneurs of Influence,”

Post-Soviet Affairs, 2021

“Russia and China as Providers of Illiberal Governance,”

World Affairs, 2024

Under review “Illiberal Pandemic Geopolitics: Populist Reception of China’s and Russia’s Vaccine Diplomacy,”

International Studies Quarterly

The Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations convenes rising experts from leading Ame... more The Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations convenes rising experts from leading American and Russian institutions to tackle the thorniest issues in the bilateral relationship. By engaging the latest generation of scholars in face-to-face discussion and debate, we aim to generate innovative analysis and policy recommendations that better reflect the common ground between the United States and Russia that is so often obscured by mistrust. We believe our unique, truly bilateral approach offers the best potential for breakthroughs in mutual understanding and reconciliation between our countries.

Cet article est le premier d'une série de publications sur la présence de la Russie en France. La... more Cet article est le premier d'une série de publications sur la présence de la Russie en France. La France constitue l'un des cas les plus intéressants du soft power russe en Europe occidentale, dû à des relations bilatérales anciennes, mais également à la présence d'une importante émigration russe depuis les années 1920 qui joue un rôle majeur de médiation. Ce projet est financé par la Foundation Open Society Institute, en coopération avec l'initiative OSIFE de Open Society Foundations. La relation francorusse s'appuie sur des traditions anciennes d'interaction entre les deux pays : la France était déjà l'une des destinations privilégiées des exilés politiques russes dès le XIXe siècle, elle a ensuite accueilli plusieurs des grandes vagues de l'émigration russe, et s'est positionné en puissance européenne relativement favorable à l'Union soviétique sous la présidence de Gaulle. La forte tradition communiste française a également joué en faveur d'une proximité idéologique certaine, et la langue russe était largement enseignée dans le secondaire jusqu'à la fin de l'URSS. Aujourd'hui, les relations bilatérales sont plus complexes, marquées par des interactions économiques et culturelles denses, mais des difficultés politiques sur les grands dossiers internationaux, Ukraine et Syrie en tête de liste. Depuis le soutien affiché par la Russie à l'extrême-droite européenne et la lune de miel-aujourd'hui bien affaiblie-entre le Front National et certains milieux du Kremlin, les débats sur la « présence russe » et les « réseaux d'influence russes » en France se sont multipliés, atteignant parfois des formes aigues de paranoïa fondées sur des exagérations grossières, des suppositions sans preuve, et une reproduction du discours américain autour de la supposée ingérence russe dans l'élection de Donald Trump. L'objectif du dossier proposé ici est une analyse sobre et sans accusation de la présence russe en France. Toutes les grandes puissances entretiennent de multiples formes de soft power dans les pays qu'elles considèrent comme cruciaux sur la scène internationale, la France étant tout naturellement l'un d'entre eux. Loin de faire de la Russie un cas unique, il serait bon de comparer les actions russes en France aux instruments déployés par les Etats-Unis, la Chine, l'Arabie Saoudite ou le Qatar. Le soft power russe peut prendre plusieurs formes. Ce papier se concentre sur l'une d'entre elles, le soft power culturel et d'affaires. Il ne prend pas en compte les activités organisées officiellement par l'Etat russe ou l'Ambassade de Russie en France-elles sont majeures, par exemple le fait que la Russie soit invitée d'honneur au Salon du Livre en 2010 puis

During the Cold War, the KGB's disinformation operations and their psychological and disruptive i... more During the Cold War, the KGB's disinformation operations and their psychological and disruptive influence earned the catchall name of active measures. Today too, similar actions are being treated as a strategic asset in operations carried out by the Russian special services to influence the external environment. These actions, as tried and tested systemic mechanisms for confrontation with the West, support the implementation of the Russian Federation's foreign policy.

“The emergence of the Russian Young Conservatives,” in A. James McAdams and Alejandro Castrillon, eds, Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy (Abingdon and New York: Routledge), 149-166

Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2021

“Illiberalism Studies as a Field,” in Marlene Laruelle, ed., Oxford handbook of illiberalism (London: Oxford University Press): 1-40.

“Illiberalism as a Conceptual Prism for Studying Political and Social Conflict,” in Sergei Samoilenko and Solon Simmons, eds, The Handbook of Social and Political Conflict Communication (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley): XXXX.

Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2025

“A New Wave of Research on Civilizational Politics,”

Nationalities Paper, 2021

“Eric Zemmour, The New Face of the French Far Right: Media-Sponsored, Neoliberal, and Reactionary,”

Journal of Illiberalism Studies, 2022

“Transformations of Far Right and Far Left in Europe”

Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2016

Radical Philosophy in Today’s Russia

Journal of Illiberalism Studies, 2023

This edited volume is a collection of interviews conducted by Marlene Laruelle as part of the Ago... more This edited volume is a collection of interviews conducted by Marlene Laruelle as part of the Agora series. Scholars interviewed are: Daniele Albertazzi, Paris Aslanidis, Mabel M. Berezin, Agnieszka Bień-Kacała, Tanja A. Börzel, Lenka Buštíková, Jean-Yves Camus, Armando Chaguaceda, Samy Cohen, Filippo Costa Buranelli, Seyward Darby, Fabio de Sa e Silva, Tímea Drinóczi, Colin Dueck, Emmy Eklundh, Tuğçe Erçetin, Emre Erdoğan, Marco Garrido, Tomás Gold, Phillip W. Gray, Anna Grzymala-Busse, Seán Hanley, Rada Iveković, Christophe Jaffrelot, Jérôme Jamin, Aliaksei Kazharski, Elżbieta Korolczuk, Zsolt Körtvélyesi, Péter Krekó, Mordechai Kremnitzer, David Lewis, Steven Livingston, Andrey Makarychev, A. James McAdams, Melani McAlister, Sabina Mihelj, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Aurelien Mondon, Cas Mudde, Jose Javier Olivas Osuna, Mitchell A. Orenstein, Takis S. Pappas, Reece Peck, Andrea Pető, Jürgen Rüland, Yuval Shany, Hilary Silver, Maria Snegovaya, Václav Štětka, Paweł Surowiec, Joshua A. Tait, Bruno Tertrais, Noah Tucker, Milada Anna Vachudova, Stijn van Kessel, Aaron Winter, Ruth Wodak, Alexandra Yatsyk, Michael Zürn.

Heidegger and his followers claimed to have revolutionized philosophy in the second half of the 2... more Heidegger and his followers claimed to have revolutionized philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. But his legacy has been gradually challenged as further research has demonstrated how much his philosophy cannot be dissociated from his political engagement in support of Nazism. The publication beginning in 2014 (and still ongoing at the time this writing) of Heidegger’s Black Notebooks, written between 1931 and 1970, has been the latest evidence of the intimate relationship between Heideggerian philosophy and Nazi ideology.

For a long time, the philosopher inspired far-right thinkers the world over, from Europe to Russia and even Iran. Heidegger’s concept of Dasein posits national identify in a specifically primitivist racial-cultural Volkishness. In the context of Heidegger’s writings after Hitler took power, it is clear that his pre-1933 definition of Dasein fit neatly into the ideology of the emerging Nazi state and particularly that of the primitivist ideology of the Sturmabtllung (SA), and the later Ahnenerbe. The incorporation of his ideas offers an easy cachet to far-right ideologies in search of a source of philosophical legitimacy.

The concept of Dasein can indeed be read as a straightforward legitimation of a Volkish ontology: it calls for rootedness and nativity, arguing that every worldview is justified through its being anchored by a local identity, thereby destroying any idea of universalism. Heidegger’s language of the “end of philosophy” also fits an eschatological vision of the end of the Western world, a requiem for a dying world, and by a domino effect, the annunciation of the rebirth of anti-Western civilizations. The Dasein concept can then be repurposed for many different contexts: with a white-supremacist narrative for those hoping for a rebirth of the white race after its having been killed off by Western liberalism; or in a Russian version as done by the infamous geopolitician Alexander Dugin.

Dugin discovered Heidegger partly late in his intellectual journey. For a long time, the Russian ideologist was focused on classic figures of pro-Nazi traditionalism such as Julius Evola, and on the whole ideological construction of Nazi esotericism, before realizing how much Heidegger could offer to his theories. After several works about Heidegger were published in Russian (and at least one translated into English), and several translations of Heidegger were published in Russian, Dugin adopted the Dasein concept in his Fourth Political Theory (2009), which, in a sense, is a tribute to Heidegger’s engagement with a“spiritual” National Socialism. In this volume, our contributors address how the Black Notebooks have dramatically reshuffled the deck of Heidegger studies (Richard Wolin), how Heidegger has been read in the Soviet-Russian context (Michail Maiatsky), and how Dugin has been reading Heidegger’s philosophy, projecting his own interpretation back into the Western far-right world (Emmanuel Faye).

Edited. The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism (London: Oxford University Press)

From the rise of populist leaders and the threat of democratic backsliding to culture wars and th... more From the rise of populist leaders and the threat of democratic backsliding to culture wars and the return of great power competition, the backlash against the political, economic, and social status quo is increasingly labeled “illiberal.” Yet, despite the increasing importance of these phenomena, scholars still lack a firm grasp on “illiberalism” as a conceptual tool for understanding contemporary trends. The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism addresses this gap by establishing a theoretical foundation for the study of illiberalism and showcasing state-of-the-art research on this phenomenon in its varied scripts—political, economic, cultural, and geopolitical. Bringing together the expertise of dozens of scholars, The Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism offers a thorough overview that characterizes the current state of the field and charts a path forward for future scholarship on this critical and quickly developing concept.

Forthcoming. Global Illiberalism. Attraction and Resistance to China and Russia (Cornell University Press)

Illiberalism is an emerging concept in social sciences that remains to be tested by different dis... more Illiberalism is an emerging concept in social sciences that remains to be tested by different disciplines and approaches. Here, I advance a fine-grained frame that should help to "stabilize" the concept by stating that we should 1/ look at illiberalism as an ideology and dissociate it from the literature on regime types, 2/ consider illiberalism to be in permanent situational relation to liberalism. To make that demonstration, I advance a pilot definition of illiberalism as a new ideological universe that, even if doctrinally fluid and context-based, is to some degree coherent.

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“Academia and the Rewriting of National Identity in Central Asia: The Soviet Union and Colonialism Issues,” in H. Komatsu, S. Karasar, T. Dadabaev, and G. Kurmangaliyeva Ercilasun, eds., Central Eurasian Studies: Past, Present and Future (Istanbul: Maltepe University), 215-224.

Istanbul: Maltepe University, 2011

“Kyrgyzstan: conflict and prospects for peace,” in D. Aurobinda Mahapatra, ed., Conflict and Peace in Eurasia (Abingdon and New York: Routledge), 119-133 co-authored with Sebastien Peyrouse

Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2013

“The Nazarbayev Generation: A Sociological Portrait,” in Marlene Laruelle, ed, The Nazarbayev Generation. Youth in Kazakhstan (Lanham, MD: Lexington), 1-21

Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2019

“Russia and Central Asia: Evolving Mutual Perceptions and the Rise of Postcolonial Perspectives,” in Rico Isaacs and Erica Marat, eds, Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Central Asia (Abingdon and New York: Routledge), 193-201

Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2021

“Making Sense of the January 2022 Protests in Kazakhstan: Failing Legitimacy, Culture of Protests, and Elite Readjustments,”

Post-Soviet Affairs, 2022

“Making Sense of the January 2022 Protests in Kazakhstan: Failing Legitimacy, Culture of Protests, and Elite Readjustments,”

Post-Soviet Affairs, 2022

The theoretical debate on the creation of nations has long been divided between two main schools:... more The theoretical debate on the creation of nations has long been divided between two main schools: the primordialist, which sees nations as enduring entities with essentialist features; and the constructive, which sees the nation as a product of modernity. A third school, ethnosymbolism, tries to move away from this dichotomy and takes into consideration both approaches. I join this school in arguing that nations are a modern construct, yet built upon some preexisting cultural and ethnic roots that are reinterpreted in new contexts. 1 Uzbekistan offers a case study of this multilayered construction, in which both contemporary political conditions and ancient cultural references are merged to advance a consensual and successful nationhood narrative.

31 essays from Central Asia to reflect on a quarter of century of independence

Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on April 26, 2015. Incumbent president Nursultan N... more Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on April 26, 2015. Incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev was easily reelected with more than 97 percent of the votes. The majority of the electorate understood that the election was organized to be a confirmation vote for the president. No one was expecting any surprises and there were none. Like past elections, the OSCE did not consider these polls to be "free and fair." The Central Elections Commission did improve its technical and administrative expertise and skills, but no organized opposition was able to offer real political alternatives, and the country ranks low in media freedom indexes.

This article examines how the nation is presented and staged on the small screen in Kazakhstan. T... more This article examines how the nation is presented and staged on the small screen in Kazakhstan. Television is a mirror in which the nation can project itself as an "imagined community." However, the Kazakhstan authorities waited a long time before investing in the small screen. As the country feels more pressure from Russia and younger generations seek a greater sense of Kazakh identity, the authorities seem decided to invest into soft power tools that reinforce Kazakhstani/ Kazakh cultural autonomy. After a brief overview of the Kazakhstani televisual landscape and its recent evolutions in ownership, language, and audience ratings, I examine documentary films as a reflection of official historiography, and then decrypt the broadcast "Signs. Legends of the Steppe," which encapsulates the new genre I name patriotic entertainment.

“Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Hopes amid Hurdles,” in P.L. Dash, ed., India and Central Asia. Two Decades of Transition (Oxford, New Delhi: Oxford University Press), 76-87, co-authored with Sebastien Peyrouse

Oxford, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012

“Making Sense of the January 2022 Protests in Kazakhstan: Failing Legitimacy, Culture of Protests, and Elite Readjustments,”

Post-Soviet Affairs, 2022

“The United States in Kazakhstani Public Opinion: Double-edged Cultural Influence and the Collateral Damage of Foreign Policy,”

Journal of Eurasian Studies, 2021

Central Asian Perceptions of China

China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, 2009

Patronal Politics in Central Asia

Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 2012

The Media Landscape in Central Asia

Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, 2015

Grassroots Conservatism in Russia and Central Asia

East-European Politics, 2023

Old Patterns, New Order. Socialist Realism in Central Asia (Exhibition organized by GW’s Central Asia Program and the GW Museum/Textile Museum, October 10, 2015-May 29, 2016)

This edited volume is the product of an online workshop that took place virtually at the George W... more This edited volume is the product of an online workshop that took place virtually at the George Washington University in October 2020. The workshop was part of a three-year project, “Islam in Russia, Russia in the Islamic World,” itself part of the Central Eurasia-Religion in International Affairs (CERIA) initiative. Launched in summer 2014 by GW’s Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES) and its Central Asia Program (CAP), CERIA inscribes itself in a broader effort at the Elliott School of International Affairs to bring greater academic and policy attention to the place of religion in international affairs. Generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, CERIA has since amplified synergies with existing programs at the Elliott School, in particular the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) and the MA in Islamic Studies, and deepened interdisciplinary discussions within the faculty, as well as with several university partners in the DC area.

In this publication, authors take a closer look at the relationship between Islam and various aspects of culture. Many Muslims in Russia perceive an overlap between their religious and ethnic/national identities. They are born into families with Muslim heritage, where some religious practices are associated with ethnic belonging and “national traditions,” or where people feel a spiritual connection to the land of their ancestors. For them, Islam and culture are closely entangled. A growing number of Muslim believers, however, disagree with this perspective and instead advocate for strict separation of the two spheres. In their opinion, the message of Islam is universal; ethnic tradition and national sentiments should be kept out of it. When faced with the question of learning a new language, for instance, adherents of what they themselves consider to be pure Islam would typically opt for Arabic instead of one of the ethnic minority languages of Russia. Given their embrace of a global outlook, identity politics at the regional or local level rarely mean much to them. When the authors who contribute to “Cultures of Islam” write about questions of identity, education, activism, or the Islam of migrant groups, we may recognize both positions among Muslims in Russia: Islam and culture thought of as separate or in combination with one another.

Scholars published in this volume reflect upon case studies from regions across Russia: Siberia, the Volga region, Crimea (with its ambiguous status), and the more central parts of the country. In an open discussion, the participants attended to the diversity of Muslim belief and practice in a range of Russian locations. In these pages, we wish to interrogate when and why some aspects of culture (national, ethnic, regional, local) gain influence. Whose interests are being served and what kind of power struggles can be determined? Do global and other interpretations of Islam clash or do they co-exist? Our authors are therefore confronted with the uneasy convergence of one Islamic revelation, on the one hand, and a multitude of Muslim traditions, on the other.

Edited. The Central Asia – Afghanistan Relationship. From Soviet Intervention to the Silk Road Initiatives (Lanham, MD: Lexington)

Central Asia is a relatively understudied neighbor of Afghanistan. The region is often placed int... more Central Asia is a relatively understudied neighbor of Afghanistan. The region is often placed into a number of historical and political contexts—a section of the Silk Road, a pawn in the “Great Game,” the “spillover” state that exemplifies the failure of US foreign policy—that limit scholarly understanding.

This edited volume contributes by providing a broad, long-term analysis of the Central Asia–Afghanistan relationship over the last several decades. It addresses the legacy of Soviet intervention with a unique first-hand selection of interviews of former Soviet Central Asian soldiers that fought in the Soviet–Afghan War. It examines Afghanistan’s norther neighbors, discussing Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—their strategy for Afghanistan, their perception of challenges and opportunities of the country, and patterns of cooperation and conflict. The collection also looks at recent US strategic initiatives in the region, in particular the New Silk Road Initiative that envisions a growing Central Asia–South Asia connection.

L’Asie centrale à l’aune de la mondialisation. Une approche géoéconomique (Paris: Armand Colin)

Central Peripheries explores post-Soviet Central Asia through the prism of nation-building. Altho... more Central Peripheries explores post-Soviet Central Asia through the prism of nation-building. Although relative latecomers on the international scene, the Central Asian states see themselves as globalized, and yet in spite of – or perhaps precisely because of – this, they hold a very classical vision of the nation-state, rejecting the abolition of boundaries and the theory of the ‘death of the nation’. Their unabashed celebration of very classical nationhoods built on post-modern premises challenges the Western view of nationalism as a dying ideology that ought to have been transcended by post-national cosmopolitanism.

Marlene Laruelle looks at how states in the region have been navigating the construction of a nation in a post-imperial context where Russia remains the dominant power and cultural reference. She takes into consideration the ways in which the Soviet past has influenced the construction of national storylines, as well as the diversity of each state’s narratives and use of symbolic politics. Exploring state discourses, academic narratives and different forms of popular nationalist storytelling allows Laruelle to depict the complex construction of the national pantheon in the three decades since independence. The second half of the book focuses on Kazakhstan as the most hybrid national construction and a unique case study of nationhood in Eurasia.

Based on the principle that only multidisciplinarity can help us to untangle the puzzle of nationhood, Central Peripheries uses mixed methods, combining political science, intellectual history, sociology and cultural anthropology. It is inspired by two decades of fieldwork in the region and a deep knowledge of the region’s academia and political environment.

Praise for Central Peripheries

‘The presentation of the history of official narrative-formation and the debate around it as well as the challenges posed by the realities of today’s society is fascinating reading.’
Slavic Review

‘Laruelle, a prolific expert on post-Soviet Central Asia, compiles ten updated essays on nationalist ideologies in the post-Soviet era.’
Foreign Affairs

‘The author’s research is highly commendable as it highlights the promotion of national languages as part of the nation-building process.’
Europe-Asia Studies

‘An important addition to a fairly small body of work on this region of the world. … Essential material to understand the current period in Central Asia.’ Nationalism and Ethnic Politics

‘A much-anticipated book, which is going to become the go-to resource for every reader interested in nationalism in Central Asia.’ New Books Network

‘There is no other book that delves so deeply into the complex issue of Central Asia nation-building. Laruelle offers comprehensive empirical evidence to highlight similarities and differences in the processes whereby the leaderships of four Central Asian states attempted to build their nationhood after the Soviet collapse.’ Luca Anceschi, University of Glasgow

‘Using the concept of hybridity, Laruelle explores the multitude of historical, political and geopolitical factors that predetermine different ways of looking at nations and various configurations of nation-building in post-Soviet Central Asia. Those manifold contexts present a general picture of the transformation that the former southern periphery of the USSR has been going through in the past decades.’ Sergey Abashin, European University at St Petersburg

‘Marlene Laruelle paves the way to the more focused and necessary outlook on Central Asia, a region that is not a periphery but a central space for emerging conceptual debates and complexities. Above all, the book is a product of Laruelle’s trademark excellence in balancing empirical depth with vigorous theoretical advancements.’
Diana T. Kudaibergenova, University of Cambridge

Though Central Asia is often studied through the prism of its relationships with external powers,... more Though Central Asia is often studied through the prism of its relationships with external powers, research on local public perceptions of these different actors has largely been overlooked. The literature on Kazakhstanis' perceptions of their neighbours, for instance, is scarce, and mostly focused on analysis of official discourse on Kazakhstan's multi-vector policy, with little exploration of how this is received, appropriated or refuted by the population. On the basis of Gallup data spanning the last decade, and several other surveys, we test most of the main hypotheses usually advanced to explain attitudes to the US and Russia-age, ethnicity and access to information-and draw five main conclusions: (1) Kazakhstanis are not defined by an exclusive pro-US/pro-Russian dichotomy; (2) they nevertheless largely choose Russia over the US if forced to pick; (3) age does not have a significant effect on foreign policy attitudes; (4) ethnicity does affect some of the attitudes under consideration, but its effects are not large enough to produce markedly different opinions among ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Russians in aggregate; and (5) consumption of media from Russia and access to non-governmental and Western sources of information do not seem to have significant effects on the attitudes under consideration.

The theme of "Russian influence" has been invading the think tank world. Yet the concept of influ... more The theme of "Russian influence" has been invading the think tank world. Yet the concept of influence must be deployed with care.

Selected from over 130 proposals, the papers brought together here offer a complex and nuanced an... more Selected from over 130 proposals, the papers brought together here offer a complex and nuanced analysis of China's New Silk Road project: its aims, the challenges facing it, and its reception in Central Asia. Combining methodological and theoretical approaches drawn from disciplines as varied as economics and sociology, and operating at both micro and macro levels, this collection of papers provides the most up-to-date research on China's BRI in Central Asia.

This special edition is part of a series dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Central Asia Pro... more This special edition is part of a series dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the Central Asia Program.

Into Eurasia Monitoring the EU’s Central Asia Strategy. Report of the EUCAM Monitoring, February, co-authored with M. Emerson, J. Boonstra (rapporteurs), N. Hasanova, and S. Peyrouse

“Russia’s activities in Central Asia,” chapter 10 of SMA TRADOC Russia White Paper

SMA TRADOC Russia White Paper, 2019

“Russia/Eurasia,” chapter for Global Trends, Strategic Futures Group, National Intelligence Council

Global Trends, Strategic Futures Group, National Intelligence Council, 2019

“Manosphere a la russe. The Male State as an Ideological and Financial Project,” Culture Wars Online Series, GW’s Illiberalism Studies Program, no. 4, April

GW’s Illiberalism Studies Program, 2022

“Manufacturing Support for War. Russia’s Preppers, Fellow Travelers, and Activist Networks,” PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo no. 764, April

PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo, 2022

“The Wagnerverse: Pop Culture and the Heroization of Russian Mercenaries,” Russia.Post, June 28

Russia.Post, 2022

“The Russian Radical Right and the War in Ukraine: A Zealous Avant Garde, Dissident Voices, and Their Audience.” The Mershon Center. Ohio State University, June 15

The Mershon Center. Ohio State University, 2022

“So, Is Russia Fascist Now? Labels and Policy Implications,” Washington Quarterly vol. 45, no. 2, 149-168

Washington Quarterly, 2022

Why Still Pro-Russia? Making Sense of Hungary’s and Serbia’s Pro-Russia Stance, Henry Jackson Foundation, January 30

Henry Jackson Foundation, 2023

“Russia at War and the Islamic World,” Russie.NEI.Visions, No. 127, Ifri, January

Russie.NEI.Visions, 2023

Russia’s Ideological Construction in the Context of the War in Ukraine

Russie.Eurasie.Reports, 2024

Guest editor. What Does the Mufti Say? Internal and Public Debates about Islam in Russia

Problems of Post-Communism, 2025

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Perspectives et strategies de la Russie en Afghanistan et en Asie centrale [Perspectives and Strategies of Russia in Afghanistan and in Central Asia], Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, January 29

Reassessing Russian Nationalism: The Search for a Social Consensus, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, March 12

Russian Policy in the Arctic: Ambitions, Dreams, and Strategies, Russian and Eurasian Studies Program, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C., November 3

Soviet Racial Ideology and Politics after Stalin. New Perspectives, with Sarah Fainberg, Georgetown Program for Jewish Civilization and the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., March 2

Reassessing Russia’s Decisionmaking Community: Intra-elite Conflicts, Political and Business Networks, and Ideological Constructions, Kennan Institute Seminar, Washington D.C., March 21

The ‘Chinese Question’ in Central Asia, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan, December 6

Russian Nationalism: A Look through Politics, Society and Culture, Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, Miami-Oxford University, OH, November 11

Aleksei Navalny and the National-Democrats. Failures and Successes to reconciliate Nationalism and Liberalism, NEORUSS Seminar, Oslo, NUPI and University of Oslo, Norway, November 28

An Evolving Identity Framework. The Rise of Russian Ethnonationalism and its Mobilizing Potential, Russian Studies Department, Manchester University, United Kingdom, April 1

Nation-building in Central Asia. State narratives and their Challengers, Davis Center, Harvard University, MA, February 11

The US Silk Road: Geopolitical Imaginary or the Repackaging of Strategic Interests?, Critical Silk Roads Seminar, Georgetown University, April 30

Central Asia In and Out. Globalizing factors, 2015 Paul Bergne Memorial Lecture, Antony’s College, Oxford, United Kingdom, May 13

The Other Face of the Arctic: Urban Culture in a Polar Environment, Geography Department, George Washington University, Washington D.C., January 22

What do we Know about Central Asia’s Public Opinions?, Center for Russian, East Europe, and Central Asia, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, February 25

Social Changes and Their Impact on Central Asia, Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York, November 10

Social Changes and Their Impact on Central Asia, Toronto University, Canada, March 1

Fashisty! The War in Ukraine and the Semantics of Fascism and Conservatism in Russia, Harvard Ukrainian Research Center, February 5

Kazakhstan’s Nationhood: Politics and Society on the Move, “Nava’i Nalle Lecture,” Georgetown University, Washington DC, February 8

Russia's Arctic Ambitions: Domestic Factors and Foreign Policy Strategies, ARCUS Arctic Research Seminar Series, Washington DC, March 6

Making Sense of Russia: Putin's Fourth Term and its Implications for Russia and the World, SUNY Geneseo Kenneth Roemer Lecture on World Affairs, Geneseo, March 22

Russia’s Arctic Policy. Setting the Scene, Conference “U.S.-Russia Relations in the Arctic,” Harriman Institute and SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University, February 12

Soil and Bones. The Search Movement in Russia, Workshop “The Culture of Memory and Commemoration in Contemporary Russia,” George Washington University, Washington D.C., February 26

Capturing Russian Media Influence in Central Asia, Workshop “Third Central Asia Security Workshop,” George Washington University, Washington D.C., March 8

Roundtable Confronting Far-Right Extremism in Europe, Atlantic Council, Washington D.C., March 22

Can we Map the Production of ‘Ideologies’ in Contemporary Russia?, International conference “Locating ‘Conservative Ideology’ in Today’s Russia,” George Washington University, Washington D.C., March 31-April 1

How Nation-Building Interact with Regime Legitimacy, Workshop “Understanding Regime Legitimacy in Central Asia,” University of Glasgow’s CRCEES and George Washington University, Washington D.C., April 13

Izborsky Club: Nationalism, Stalinism, Conservatism?, International Conference “Nation-building and nationalism in today’s Russia,” Tallinn, Estonia, April 28-29

Arctic Social Sciences Workshop, NSF-funded workshop of Arctic Horizons, Brown University, MA, June 1-2

Assessing Russia’s Normative Agenda in Central Asia, International Conference “The Great Powers and Central Asia after Western Drawndown from Afghanistan,” OSCE Academy and Columbia University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, June 6-7, 2016

Tajikistan’s Quest for a National Storytelling. Ambivalences, Blank Spaces, and Discontinuities, International Conference “Tajikistan. Approaches, Fieldworks and Topics,” George Washington University and the Swedish Institute for International Affairs, Stockholm, Sweden, June 13-14

Social Changes and New Mobilities in Norilsk, International Conference “Russia’s Arctic Cities’ Sustainable Development and Challenges,” George Washington University, and the Russian Geographical Society, Lenin Icebreaker, Murmansk, Russia, June 27-28

Debating Islam and Russia’s National Identity, International Conference “The Image of Islam in Russia,” Uppsala Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala, Sweden, October 6-8

Changes in the Social Fabric of Russia’s Arctic Cities, First PIRE international conference, George Washington University, Washington DC, October 20

Book launch, 25 Years of Independence: Questioning Post-Soviet, Kennan Institute, Washington DC, December 6

Reductio ad Fascism. Character Assassination of Putin’s Regime through the Labeling of ‘Fascism’, International Conference “Character Assassination in Theory and Practice,” George Mason University, Washington DC, March 4

Revisiting ‘Conservative’ values. Is Illiberalism the New Mainstream for Central Asian Societies? International Conference “Central Asia Security Workshop,” George Washington University, Washington DC, March 6

Labor migration to Russia and its impact on Central Asian societies, Conference “US-Central Asia Relations,” Georgetown University, Washington DC, April 20

Studying Russian Media Context, Challenges and New Directions for Research, PONARS Eurasia Workshop “Revisiting Research on Russian Media,” George Washington University, Washington DC, April 28

Indicators of an Arctic Urban Social Sustainability Index, 5th international conference of the Arctic Research Coordination Network “Building a Research Network for Promoting Arctic Urban Sustainability,” Anchorage, Alaska, May 15-16

Kazakhstani Perceptions of External Powers. Unexpected Findings of Survey Analysis, International Conference “Central Asia Security Workshop,” George Washington University, Washington DC, March 5