Authors

Discussion

Honing in on how citizens in the former Soviet Union find themselves in an ‘information competition’ over their own past – torn between varying narratives put forth by political elites, domestically and in Russia – this paper explores why people see certain historical events and figures in their country’s history as being more important than others. We draw on comparative survey data across six states and de facto states to examine whether proximity to Russia – be that geographic, cultural, or political proximity – is associated with a favourable view on a Russian-promoted narrative about historical events and figures. We find that geopolitical proximity is associated with viewing the ‘Great Patriotic War’ as a glorious Soviet victory and Stalin as a great leader – although the findings are less consistent as regards measures for cultural proximity.