Authors

Mark Bassin¹;  ¹ Sodertorn University, Sweden

Discussion

For over a century, a succession of Russian nationalist narratives have been constructed around the belief in a special connection between Russia's civilizational destiny and the continental spaces of Eurasia. The Putinist regime is giving a new twist to the Eurasianist trope through its promotion of the vision of Bol’shaia Evraziia or Greater Eurasia. While earlier iterations represented Russia-Eurasia as a closed and self-sufficient continental entity, quite separate from its neighbors to the east and west, Greater Eurasia pointedly extends Eurasia's boundaries to include significant parts, or indeed all of adjacent Asian territory. Moreover, the Greater Eurasia narrative maintains that Russia's future lies not in self-sufficiency and autonomy but rather in its far-reaching integration with these territories.  In this way, the discourse supports the Putinist “turn to Asia”, above all Russia’s close alignment and partnership with China.