Dr. Marlene Laruelle


    Welcome to my personal page. I am a Research Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at The George Washington University, and Director of GW's Illiberalism Studies Program. In France, I am a Senior Associate with IFRI (Institut français des relations internationales) and an Advisor with Observo, the think tank of the French-Russian Chamber of Commerce.


    Read more about my research topics here.

    Recent Publications
    The New York Times
    Why Do Russians Still Want to Fight?
    Mistrust of the rich, belief that sanctions actually strengthen the economy and disdain for émigrés all attest to a class-based experience of the conflict for average soldiers.
    Why Still Pro-Russia? Making Sense of Hungary’s and Serbia’s Pro-Russia Stance
    How should the EU react to these divergent approaches to Russia and try to protect its unity? To answer this question, this report examines the actual level of support for Russia.
    Russia at War and the Islamic World
    While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a large decoupling with the West, Moscow has not been isolated from the non-Western world and has even reinvested its diplomatic energy toward the Global South.
    Putin’s War and the Dangers of Russian Disintegration
    Hoping for Russia’s disintegration is a policy mistake which may result in dramatic situations and is based on a reductionist view of the complexity of Russia’s constituencies.
    The End of the Post-Soviet Order
    The broad region to Russia’s south seems to be undergoing a tectonic shift away from Moscow for many interconnected reasons. Yet, albeit diminished, Russia remains a significant regional power.
    The Wagnerverse: Pop culture and the heroization of Russian mercenaries
    Marlene Laruelle and Kelian Sanz Pascual on the cinematic universe of the PMC Wagner and how pop culture frames are used to promote and celebrate a mercenary realm favorable to Russia.
    So, Is Russia Fascist Now? Labels and Policy Implications
    On why the concept of "fascism" is still problematic to define Russia as a regime and a society even after February 24, and the policy implications of such labelling.
    The Russian Radical Right and the War in Ukraine: A Zealous Avant Garde, Dissident Voices, and Their Audience
    On how the war has opened new avenues for the Russian Radical Right to be heard by a broader public opinion, as their websites and social media platforms have seen greater engagement.
    Manufacturing Support for War: Russia’s Preppers, Fellow Travelers, and Activist Networks
    The impact on Russia of its war against Ukraine is heavier than President Vladimir Putin anticipated, both in terms of military losses and economic isolation. The survival of the regime will therefore largely depend on its capacity to generate popular support or— failing that—to keep people from engaging against the war.
    Manosphere à la russe: The “Male State” as an Ideological and Financial Project
    A vocal version of the manosphere à la russe has been the group the Male State, which gained its maximal media visibility in summer 2021 before getting banned by the Russian judicial authorities for extremism. The Male State embodied important trends of Russian pre-war society and capitalized on them.
    Disinformation and Religion on the Russian Scene: Reactionary Politics and Orthodox Fundamentalism
    On the divergence between the Russian Orthodox Church’s backing state decisions about lockdowns and vaccination campaigns and the many reactionary groups and fundamentalist monks who have taken the lead on producing conspiracy theories.
    Russia’s Islam: Balancing Securitization and Integration
    Migrations from the North Caucasus and Central Asia to Russia’s main metropoles, a dynamic Islamic Runet, and the marriage of convenience between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Muftiates contribute to an alignment of interests between the Russian regime and its Muslim constituencies.
    Russia’s Niche Soft Power: Sources, Targets and Channels of Influence
    This paper argues that Russia’s soft power should be understood as a niche soft power, microtargeting some specific audiences based on four particularisms.
    Russia’s Arctic Policy: A Power Strategy and Its Limits
    Despite the deterioration of its relations with the West and economic stagnation limiting its room for maneuver, Russia continues to have an ambitious policy for the Arctic region.
    BOOKS
    Is Russia Fascist?
    Unraveling Propaganda East and West
    by Marlene Laruelle
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    Memory Politics and the Russian Civil War

    Reds Versus Whites

    by Marlene Laruelle and Margarita Karnysheva

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    Central Peripheries
    Nationhood in Central Asia
    by Marlene Laruelle
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    Russian Nationalism
    Imaginaries, Doctrines, and Political Battlefields

    by Marlene Laruelle

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    More Books
    ACADEMIC ARTICLES
    “Culturalizing the Nation: A Quantitative Approach to the Russkii/Rossiiskii Semantic Space in Russia’s Political Discourse”
    Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization no. 1 (2023): 3-28, co-authored with Ivan Grek, and Sergey Davydov.
    “A grassroots conservatism? Taking a fine-grained view of conservative attitudes among Russians”
    East European Politics vol. 39, no 2 (2022): 173-193.
    “Illiberalism: a conceptual introduction”
    East European Politics 38, no. 2 (2022): 303-327
    “Eric Zemmour, The New Face of the French Far Right: Media-Sponsored, Neoliberal, and Reactionary”
    Journal of Illiberalism Studies 2, no. 2 (2022): 1-17, co-authored with Périne Schir.
    “Making sense of the January 2022 protests in Kazakhstan: failing legitimacy, culture of protests, and elite readjustments”
    Post-Soviet Affairs vol. 38, no 6 (2022): 441-459, co-authored with Diana Kudaibergenova
    “The United States in Kazakhstani public opinion: Double-edged cultural influence and the collateral damage of foreign policy”
    Journal of Eurasian Studies 12, no. 2 (2021): 199–210, co-authored with Dylan Royce.
    “’Beyond Hybrid Warfare’: A Digital Exploration of Russia’s Entrepreneurs of Influence”
    Post-Soviet Affairs 37, no 4 (2021): 318-335, co-authored with Kevin Limonier.
    “Russia’s African Toolkit: Digital Influence and Entrepreneurs of Influence”
    Orbis 65, no. 3 (2021): 403-419, co-authored with Kevin Limonier
    “A New Wave of Research on Civilizational Politics”
    Nationalities Papers 49, no. 4 (2021): 597-608, co-authored with Henry Hale
    “Accusing Russia of Fascism. Polemics around Russia’s Belonging to Europe”
    Russia in Global Affairs, December, 2020
    “Pandemic Politics in Eurasia: Roadmap for a New Research Subfield”
    Problems of Post-Communism 68, no. 1 (2020): 1-16, collective article.
    “Making Sense of Russia’s Illiberalism”
    Journal of Democracy 31, no. 3 (2020): 115-129.
    “Ideological Complementarity or Competition? The Kremlin, the Church, and the Monarchist Idea in Today's Russia”
    Slavic Review 79, no. 2 (2020), 345-364
    “Rethinking Civilizational Identity from the Bottom Up: A Case Study of Russia and a Research Agenda”
    Nationalities Papers 48, no. 3 (2020): 585-602, co-authored with Henry Hale
    “Ideological or Pragmatic? A Data-Driven Analysis of the Russian Presidential Grant Fund”
    Russian Politics 5 (2020): 29-51, co-authored with Laura Howells
    “Urban Regimes in Russia’s Northern Cities: Testing a Concept in a New Environment”
    Arctic 73, no. 1 (2020), 53-66
    “Back From Utopia: How Donbas Fighters Reinvent Themselves in a Post-Novorossiya Russia”
    Nationalities Papers 47, no. 5 (2019), 719–733
    “Arctic cities as an anthropogenic object: a preliminary approach through urban heat islands”
    The Polar Journal vol. 9, no. 2 (2019): 402-423, with Igor Esau, Martin Miles, Victoria Miles, Anna N. Kurchatova, Sergej A. Petrov, Andrey Soromotin, Mikhail Varentsov & Pavel Konstantinov
    “Postcolonial Polar Cities? New Indigenous and Cosmopolitan Urbanness in the Arctic”
    Acta Borealia 36, no. 2 (2019), 149-165
    “The Three Waves of Arctic Urbanization. Drivers, Evolutions, Prospects”
    Polar Record vol. 55, no. 1 (April, 2019): 1-12
    “Polar Islam: Muslim Communities in Russia’s Arctic Cities”
    Problems of Post-Communism vol. 67, no. 4-5 (2019): 327-337, co-authored with Sophie Hohmann.
    “A Booming City in the Far North. Demographic and Migration Dynamics of Yakutsk, Russia”
    Sibirica. The Journal of Siberian Studies, no. 3 (2019), 9-28, co-authored with Svetlana Sukneva
    “Untangling the puzzle of “Russia’s influence” in Kazakhstan”
    Eurasian Geography and Economics 60, no 2 (2019), 211-243, co-authored with Dylan Royce and Serik Besseymbayev
    “Kazakhstani Public Opinion of the United States and Russia: Testing Variables of (Un)favorability”
    Central Asian Survey 38, no. 2 (2019): 197-216, co-authored with Dylan Royce
    “Commemorating 1917 in Russia: Ambivalent State History Policy and the Church’s Conquest of the History Market”
    Europe-Asia Studies 71, no 2 (2019): 249-267
    “Why No Kazakh Novorossiya? Kazakhstan’s Russian Minority in a Post-Crimea World”
    Problems of Post-Communism 65, no. 1 (2018): 65-78
    “Biography of a Polar City: Population Flows and Urban Identity in Norilsk”
    Polar Geography 40, no 4 (2017): 306-323
    “Is Nationalism a Force for Change in Russia?”
    Daedelus (American Academy of Arts and Sciences) 146, no. 2 (2017): 89-100
    “The Izborsky Club, or the New Conservative Avant-Garde in Russia”
    The Russian Review 75, no. 4 (2016): 626-644
    “The Iuzhinsky Circle: Far-Right Metaphysics in the Soviet Underground and Its Legacy Today”
    The Russian Review 75, no. 4 (2015): 563–580
    “The US Silk Road: geopolitical imaginary or the repackaging of strategic interests?”
    Eurasian Geography and Economics 56, no. 4 (2015): 360-375
    “Russia as a ‘Divided Nation,’ from Compatriots to Crimea: A Contribution to the Discussion on Nationalism and Foreign Policy”
    Problems of Post-Communism 62, no. 2 (2015): 88-97
    “In Search of Kazakhness: The Televisual Landscape and Screening of Nation in Kazakhstan”
    Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 23, no. 3 (2015): 321-340
    “The Three Colors of Novorossiya, or the Russian Nationalist Mythmaking of the Ukrainian Crisis”
    Post-Soviet Affairs 32, no. 1 (2015): 55-74
    “Patriotic Youth Clubs in Russia. Professional Niches, Cultural Capital and Narratives of Social Engagement”
    Europe-Asia Studies 67, no. 1 (2015): 8-27
    “Resource, state reassertion and international recognition: locating the drivers of Russia’s Arctic policy”
    The Polar Journal 4, no. 2 (2014): 253-270
    “Alexei Navalny and challenges in reconciling ‘nationalism’ and ‘liberalism’”
    Post-Soviet Affairs 30, no. 4 (2014): 276-297
    “The “Russian Idea” on the Small Screen: Staging National Identity on Russia’s TV”
    Demokratizatsiya. The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 22, no. 2 (2014): 313-333
    “Assessing Uzbekistan’s and Tajikistan’s Afghan Policy: The Impact of Domestic Drivers”
    Central Asian Affairs 1, no. 1 (2014): 108-132
    “Larger, Higher, Farther North … Geographical Metanarratives of the Nation in Russia”
    Eurasian Geography and Economics 53, no. 5 (2012): 557–574
    “Conspiracy and Alternate History in Russia: A Nationalist Equation for Success?”
    The Russian Review 71, no. 4 (2012): 656-580
    “Discussing Neopatrimonialism and Patronal Presidentialism in the Central Asian Context”
    Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 20, no. 4 (2012): 301-324
    “The Paradigm of Nationalism in Kyrgyzstan. Evolving Narrative, the Sovereignty Issue, and Political Agenda”
    Communist and Post-Communist Studies 45, no. 1–2 (2012): 39–49
    “Negotiating History: Memory Wars in the Near Abroad and Pro-Kremlin Youth Movements”
    Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 19, no. 3 (2011): 233-252
    “The Ideological Shift On The Russian Radical Right: From Demonizing The West To Fear Of Migrants”
    Problems of Post-Communism 57, no. 6 (2010): 19–31
    “The Concept of Ethnogenesis in Central Asia: Political Context and Institutional Mediators (1940–50)”
    Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 9, no. 1 (2008): 169-188
    “Alternative Identity, Alternative Religion? Neo-Paganism and the Aryan Myth in contemporary Russia”
    Nations and Nationalism 14, no. 2 (2008): 283-301
    “Religious Revival, Nationalism and the ‘Invention of Tradition’: Political Tengrism in Central Asia and Tatarstan”
    Central Asian Survey 26, no. 2 (2007): 203-216
    “The Return of the Aryan Myth: Tajikistan in search for a Secularized National Ideology”
    Nationalities Papers 35, no. 1 (2007): 51-70
    “The Two Faces of Contemporary Eurasianism. An Imperial Version of the Russian Nationalism”
    Nationalities Papers 32, no. 1 (2004): 115-136
    Contact

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