THE AWAKENING OF “SLEEPING” POLITICAL RESOURCE: RUSSIAN NATIONALISM BEFORE 2018 ELECTIONS

Abstract

The author analyses the problems of nationalisms in the Russian Federation, where nationalism is one of the most influential and ignored political ideologies simultaneously. The author presumes that Ukrainian revolution of 2014 inspired the rise of Russian nationalism and its radicalization. Russian nationalism coexists simultaneously with non-Russian nationalisms that gained more political experience in previous years. It is assumed that nationalisms in Russia develop more slowly than in Europe. The elections that will be in Russia in 2018 force and stimulate Russian political elites to imitate their agreement with Russian nationalists and use the practices of Russification, attacking the rights of the national languages in republics. The author believes that modern political elites perceive non-Russian nationalisms as an ideological collective enemy and try to suppress non-Russian nationalisms, formally simulating and imitating the support of Russian nationalists.