Maxime Danielou1; 1 Paris Nanterre University, France
Discussion
This paper explores the role of the prominent Russian IR expert Sergey Karaganov and his network in shaping strategic narratives that have supported Russia's "de-Westernization" strategy over the past decade. Our analysis focuses on three key notions formulated and promoted by Karaganov and his team : the "Turn to the East" since 2012; "Greater Eurasia" after 2014, and the more recent "World Majority," introduced in September 2022, which positions Russia as a leader of a virtual coalition of non-Western nations. These concepts - and their related sources - have accompanied each significant rupture with the West since Vladimir Putin’s third term, offering a consistent discursive and conceptual content to the authorities, often with notable success.
The dissemination of Karaganov’s repertoire within official discourse, alongside the funding origins of his organizations, suggests that what I refer to as "the Karaganov galaxy" has served as the principal "think tank" for the formulation and justification of Russia's "de-westernizing" agenda. By engaging with Marlene Laruelle’s concept of "ideological entrepreneurship", this paper explores how Karaganov anticipates and adapts to the shifts in Kremlin’s foreign policy goals as a way to maintain relevance in the eyes of Russian leadership, in order to receive virtual and material benefits for himself and his team.
This paper is partly based on field research carried out in Moscow in the spring of 2021, during which I conducted a series of interviews with Sergey Karaganov and various members of his team at the Higher School of Economics and Russia in Global Affairs.
