THE SPECTER OF EMPIRE: Passportization and the Russian Imperial Project, 1991-2022 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. Salaru, Daniel G. creator Levitas, Anthony thesis advisor Biziukova, Volha reader Brown University. International and Public Affairs sponsor 2025 text_resources born digital English Senior thesis (AB)--Brown University, 2025 International and Public Affairs, Security Track theses Russia Citizenship Imperialism Eastern Europe Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) In Copyright 10.26300/yex3-9n82