210090 SE BAK15: East European Studies (2019S)

Relations between various Russian actors and European far-right ideologues, movements, organisations and parties are a complex and multi-layered phenomenon. Each side of this relationship is driven by evolving and, at times, circumstantial political and pragmatic considerations that involve, on the one hand, the need to attain or restore declining or deficient domestic or international legitimacy and, on the other hand, the ambition to reshape the apparently hostile domestic or international environments in accordance with one’s own interests.
This course will explore the relations between Russian actors and the European far right in detail. It will start with an overview of the history of these relations looking at pro-Russian and pro-Soviet elements within the European far-right milieu in the period before the collapse of the Soviet system, as well as discussing the Soviet Union’s attempts to exploit these elements for its own political gains. The larger part of the course will focus on the contemporary period. Seminars, in particular, will examine the changes that took place in Russia that allowed it to claim political legitimacy from European illiberal political forces and to position Russia as a “beacon of hope” of the far right’s fight against liberal democracy; investigate networks of European far-right activists and politicians involved in the politically biased electoral observation aimed at promoting Russian foreign policy interests; study the cooperation between Russian state-funded media and the European far right; and analyse many other areas of cooperation between these actors.