Introduction

Examining nationalism within the post-Soviet Russian Federation in the context of an increasingly globalized world is a complex task, given the propensity of the various historical forms of the Russian state to resist inclusion in the prevalent socio-economic, artistic, and political Pan-European trends. Thus, Russia never experienced the impact of Renaissance or Protestant Reformation, while its embrace of the Age of Reason had been ambivalent in its nature, and limited in scope. Both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, in spite of their universalistic and Messianic impulses, functioned within the context of a highly isolationist autarkic political culture. That globalization has indeed emerged as a factor in the post-communist Russian state is, nevertheless, beyond reasonable denial. Russia had first confronted aspects of modernity in the late seventeenth century through the reforms of Peter the Great and was fundamentally transformed by the Marxist mobilization model of socio-economic modernization thrust upon the Soviet empire by Joseph Stalin during the 1920s and 1930s. Mikhail Gorbachev's reform policy of glasnost exposed his country to the Information Age, while the set of policies collectively known as perestroika marked a decisive departure from traditional Russian autarky through seeking Western aid from such global institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Following the failure of Gorbachev's attempt to fuse socialism with reinvigorating elements of capitalism, a highly flawed and predatory form of capitalism emerged in Russia, fostering nevertheless its integration into the global economy. This chapter will examine the traditional sources and current manifestations of nationalism in contemporary Russian Federation, and then explore the degree and nature of interaction between globalization and various forms of ethnic nationalism flourishing on the Eurasian continent.