Autorentext

Sabine Fischer is a political scientist and Senior Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.

Klappentext

Many attempts have been made to explain Russia's fateful decision to invade Ukraine, but the distinguished political scientist Sabine Fischer argues that we can only fully understand Russia's foreign policy and its aggressive war of annihilation against Ukraine by putting Russian chauvinism at the heart of our analysis. Fischer argues that Putin's regime has long been driven by a mixture of aggressive nationalism, sexism and autocracy: taken together, these three elements constitute the chauvinist threat that stems from Moscow and that led to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

An internationally renowned expert on Russia and Eastern Europe with decades of experience in EU-Russia relations, Fischer enriches her analysis with observations drawn from her own experiences in Russia and Eastern Europe over the past thirty years, including conversations with senior Russian politicians and colleagues shortly before and after the invasion. She also shows that the chauvinist threat stemming from Moscow is a threat not just to Ukraine but also to liberal democracy and the rules-based world order, and she outlines steps that liberal democracies should take to counter this danger.

Using a feminist lens and bringing into sharp focus the sexism of Putin's regime and its explosive interaction with nationalism and autocracy, this book makes an important contribution to understanding both the brutal war in Ukraine and the serious threats faced by all liberal democracies today.

Inhalt

Preface

Introduction

1. What is chauvinism?
   Chauvinism as an aggressive form of nationalism and imperialism
   Chauvinism as sexism
   Chauvinism and autocracy
   Why did Russia declare war on Ukraine?

2. Chauvinism in Russia
   Nationalism and imperialism
   Sexism
   Autocracy
   2020: a dire turning point

3. Russia's wars
   Russian warfare after the collapse of the Soviet Union
   Chechnya
   Russia and the Syrian Civil War
   Russia's war against Ukraine
   Reservoirs of violence in a neverending state of war

4. Russia's future
   Russia at war
   Russia's potential futures

5. Europe's vulnerability
   A brief history of EU-Russian relations
   Germany's role
   Russia and right-wing populism in the West
   The weaknesses of the EU
   How do democracies die?
   Weaknesses to the East
   The global fight for narratives

6. Europe's response
   Yet more chauvinism
   Ukraine's future
   The future of the EU's eastern neighbours
   Where next with Russia?
   Dealing with the war in a complex world
   Reconsolidating liberal democracy
   Reconsolidating civil society

   Conclusion

   Acknowledgements
   Works cited
   Notes
   Index