Description
- Abstract:
- Russia has been involved in more armed interventions than any other country deemed a “competitor” of the United States, with nearly all of its actions concentrated on the post-Soviet region. Scholars have long debated Russia's motivations and justifications. However, most fail to explain why it persistently intervenes in its neighbors’ affairs. By analyzing the characteristics and manifestations of Russia's citizenship laws and the country's conferral of its passports abroad, this thesis explores the unique nature of Russian nationalism. I argue that Russia fails to recognize the former Soviet region as genuinely independent and that its nationalism is distinctly imperialist in nature. I analyze Russia's instrumentalization of post-Soviet populations, including through the state-directed mass extraterritorial distribution of its passports abroad, as tools of coercion and irredentism against states that it perceives to be leaving its sphere of influence. By evaluating the specific characteristics of these policies, I trace the evolution of Russia's view of its imperial project and the countries around it. These conclusions have significant implications for scholarship on nationalism, Russia, Eastern Europe, and global security writ large.
- Notes:
- Senior thesis (AB)--Brown University, 2025
- Concentration: International and Public Affairs, Security Track
Access Conditions
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- Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Rights
- In Copyright
Citation
Salaru, Daniel G.,
"THE SPECTER OF EMPIRE: Passportization and the Russian Imperial Project, 1991-2022"
(2025).
The Watson School of International and Public Affairs Theses and Dissertations, International and Public Affairs Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/yex3-9n82
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The Watson School of International and Public Affairs Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the The Watson School of International and Public Affairs department.... -
International and Public Affairs Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the International and Public Affairs department....