Authors

Discussion

During President Putin’s third term (2012-2018), Russian politicians and state-aligned media used selective retellings of the Yugoslav wars to support the Russian government’s foreign and domestic political positions, blurring the two. The promotion of revisionist narratives of the 1990s wars has largely been interpreted through Russia’s geopolitical aims and cultural ties with Serbia. This paper presents a further category for consideration: domestic legitimation of Russian state identity. Drawing on discourse analysis of Russian media and government references to the Yugoslav wars, as well as studies of Russian political communication, this paper outlines how politicians and media outlets employed the Yugoslav wars as a historical frame for understanding contemporary political realities. The findings identify four key themes within the Yugoslav wars historical framing narrative: Yugoslavia as the first color revolution; international conflict as a by-product of Russian weakness on the world stage; the need for multipolarity; and Western disrespect for international law. It finishes by considering how these themes, and the historical framing narrative they constitute, both contribute to and reveal nuance within the Kremlin’s strategic narrative on state identity.