Russia and Modern Fascism: New Perspectives on the Kremlin’s War Against Ukraine (Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society)

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by Ian Garner

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Russia seems to be hurtling toward fascism. Vladimir Putin and his allies―domestic and foreign―have obliterated and colonized Ukrainian cities in a “holy war,” committed tens of thousands of war crimes, introduced Draconian domestic crackdowns on free speech and political opposition, and rewritten the constitution to seize power in perpetuity. The state and its propagandists declare their intentions to destroy the Ukrainian state and commit genocide against the Ukrainian people, to overthrow the liberal international order, and to recreate the tsarist and Soviet empires. Meanwhile, the Russian population languishes in a militarizing culture in which civic life has been replaced by a cult of war, past and present. Each of these phenomena invites comparisons with past fascist regimes. This volume gathers leading experts in the first scholarly study of a new Russian fascism that draws on distinctly modern forms of control and violence as much as on historical precedents. An array of theoretical debates and case studies from across disciplines makes this a pioneering study of modern Russian politics. The volume’s contributors include Jaroslava Barbieri, Paul D’Anieri, Jolanta Darczewska, Maria Domanska, Alexander Etkind, Joanna Getka, Andreas Heinemann-Grüder, Vladislav Inozemtsev, Alexander J. Motyl, Andreas Umland, and Michał Wawrzonek. Putin’s regime evidently shares many striking similarities with imperial nationalism and fascism―something mainstream scholarship on contemporary Russia prefers to ignore or discard. Yet Russia’s brutal and unprovoked full-scale aggression against Ukraine has conclusively proven such an approach to be shortsighted and mistaken. This pioneering study represents a valuable intellectual contribution to a long-overdue and honest discussion of the nature of the totalitarian regime in Moscow. This makes the book a required reading for students of Russia, international relations, and comparative politics, as well as anyone who is trying to make sense of Russian belligerence and expansionism. -- Petro Kuzyk, Associate Professor of International Relations, Ivan Franko University of Lviv Dr Ian Garner is Assistant Professor at the Center for Totalitarian Studies at the Pilecki Institute in Warsaw. He is also an adjunct faculty member in War Studies at the Royal Military College, Canada, Fellow at the Centre for International & Defence Policy, Canada, as well as lifetime fellow of the Royal Historical Society in London. His books include Stalingrad Lives: Stories of Combat and Survival (Mc-Gill-Queen’s UP 2022) and Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia’s Fascist Youth (Hurst/Oxford UP 2023). He regularly writes for major media outlets including the Globe & Mail, National Post, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, and UnHerd. Dr Taras Kuzio is Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. He is the author and editor of 22 books, including Fascism and Genocide: Russia’s War Against Ukrainians (ibidem 2023), Russian Nationalism and the Russian-Ukrainian War (Routledge 2022), The Sources of Russia's Great Power Politics (E-IR 2018, with Paul D’Anieri), Putin’s War Against Ukraine (University of Toronto Press 2019), Ukraine: Democratization, Corruption and the New Russian Imperialism (Praeger 2015), Democratic Revolution in Ukraine (Routledge 2009), Ukraine – Crimea – Russia (ibidem 2007), and Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives on Nationalism (ibidem 2007). David Satter is an American journalist and historian best known for his books including Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State, The Less You Know, The Better You Sleep: Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship under Yeltsin and Putin, and Never Speak to Strangers and Other Writing from Russia and the Soviet Union.

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