The Problem of the "Russian World": theory and historiography

Khomenko Denis Petrovich Postgraduate student, Department of National History, Moscow City Pedagogical University 124365, Russia, Moskva oblast', g. Zelenograd, ul. Korpus 2302, 2302 KhomenkoDenisPetrovich@yandex.ru

Introduction

As a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 into 15 independent states, Soviet citizens found themselves divided by state borders between the former Union republics. Having won grandiose victories against external opponents ^[33], the USSR mainly collapsed due to internal interethnic contradictions.

In 1989, according to the results of the All-Union census, the population of the USSR was almost 287 million Soviet citizens ^[7]. In 1991, there were 293 million compatriots bonded by cultural, historical and socio-economic ties.

It should be noted that the modern population of the post–Soviet space, according to the Institute of Demography of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, is almost 298 million people - which indicates the absence of significant population growth over the past 30 years ^[37].

The population of the RSFSR of the USSR as of 1991 was almost 149 million, and the population of all the republics of the USSR was 293 million. Thus, as a result of the collapse of the USSR, 144 million Russian compatriots in neighboring countries – almost half of the population of the former Soviet Union – found themselves within the territorial borders of the former Soviet republics.

Russian Russians also lived in all the republics of the USSR in 1989, 145 million Russians by nationality, and 120 million in the RSFSR, then, according to the most conservative estimates, due to the collapse of the USSR in 1991, about 25 million representatives of the Russian diaspora turned out to be in Ukraine (more than 11 million) in the countries of the near abroad, Kazakhstan (more than 6 million), Uzbekistan (1.6 million), Belarus (1.3 million), Latvia (almost 1 million), Kyrgyzstan (almost 1 million), Moldova (0.5 million), Estonia (almost 0.5 million), Tajikistan (0.4 million), Azerbaijan (0.4 million), Lithuania (0.3 million), Georgia (0.3 million), Turkmenistan (0.3 million), Armenia (more than 50 thousand) ^[6].

Problem statement

As a result of the collapse of the USSR, 144 million Russian compatriots (including 25 million representatives of the Russian diaspora) out of the 287 million population of citizens of the former USSR found themselves in neighboring countries.

Russian Russian Diaspora It is obvious that the collapse of the Soviet Union led to the split of the "Russian World", as a result of which 144 million Russian compatriots and 25 million representatives of the Russian diaspora found themselves in the countries of the near abroad.

In the modern historiography of the issue, there is no consensus on the final definition of the concept of "Russian World". Therefore, in the results of this study, the author analyzes the opinions of specialists from different humanitarian fields.

According to the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences "The Russian World in a Changing World" edited by ethnologist and Doctor of Historical Sciences Komarov G.A., there were from 28 to 30 million compatriots outside Russia by the end of the second decade of the XX century ^[15].

In the geopolitical realities of the split and collapse of the 74-year-old Soviet socio-political system, the legacy of a thousand-year-old Russian civilization has intensified at the socio-cultural level. The first legal step towards the reunification of compatriots of the post-Soviet space was the norms to simplify the acquisition of Russian citizenship for Russian-speaking citizens of the near abroad.

The legislative basis for overcoming the split of the "Russian World" was the adoption on May 24, 1999 of the Federal Law "On the State Policy of the Russian Federation in relation to Compatriots abroad" ^[28].

According to article 1 of this law, compatriots are officially recognized as persons who were born in the same state and who possess civilizational signs of cultural and historical community - that is, who are native speakers of language, history, cultural heritage.

It should be noted that the Doctor of Historical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences Chubaryan Alexander Oganovich defines cultural and historical community as one of the main definitions of the concept of "civilization" ^{[34; 535]}.

Russian Russians (representatives of the "Russian World"), who are native speakers of the Russian language, culture and history of Russia, represent a cultural and historical community.

Research results

Experts from various humanitarian fields define the "Russian World" as a concept, a concept, a metaphor, an ideologeme, an ideology, a doctrine, a strategy, a civilization, a "soft power", a mythologeme, a delusion, and so on.

Russian Russian Russian Russian In 2000, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences and political strategist Peter G. Shchedrovitsky in his work "The Russian World and Transnational Russian" defined the "Russian World" as "a network structure of communities thinking and speaking Russian".  Russian Russian-speaking communities were recognized by the author as the fact that within Russia itself, as the "core of the Russian World", "hardly half of the population of the Russian World lives" ^[39].

This assumption suggests the existence of a problem of the split of the "Russian world" at the turn of the millennium due to the disintegration processes that occurred at the end of the XX century.

In continuation, the author of the concept of the "Russian World" suggests that a kind of civilizational immunity in the realities of globalization is formed not so much inside Russia itself as outside Russia.

– "The Russian World is after all a way of adapting Russia as the Russian Federation to globalization": concludes Shchedrovitsky Pyotr Georgievich ^[38].

In 2007, Valery Alexandrovich Tishkov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, also defined the "Russian World" as a trans-state and transcontinental community united by its involvement in the Russian state and culture ^[25].

Russian Russian University Doctor of Historical Sciences and head of the Russian World Foundation Vyacheslav A. Nikonov defined the ideology of the "Russian World" in 2007 as follows: – "... these are not only Russians, not only Russians, not only our compatriots in the countries of near and far abroad, emigrants, immigrants from Russia and their descendants. They are also foreign citizens who speak Russian, study or teach it, all those who are sincerely interested in Russia, who care about its future" ^[16].

It is important that V.A. Nikonov defines the "Russian World" precisely in the ideological context. Also, about the urgent need to create a state ideology for the formation of a national security strategy of Russia in the XXI century (including the need for a final definition of the interdisciplinary concept of "Russian World") says Alexey Ivanovich Podberezkin, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia ^[20].

Russian Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs MGIMO Candidates of Historical Sciences E.M. Astakhov and E.V. Astakhova in their article "Russia and the Russian World" also draw attention to the fact that "without a national idea and strategy, Russia will not be able to fulfill the historical task of strengthening the "Russian World" inside and outside the country." It is noteworthy that these historians define the "Russian World" as the basis of the national idea ^[4].

Russian Russian historian Marlene Laruel, an employee of the Center for Global Interests (Washington, USA) in his 2015 work "The Russian World": Russia's Soft Power and Geopolitical Imagination" defines the "Russian World" not as an ethnic concept, but as a concept that "includes the Soviet heritage, the Russian-speaking world and supporters of Russia" ^[41].

The statement of Marlene Laruel emphasizes the transnational and global nature of the "Russian World", which correlates with the ideas of Peter Shchedrovitsky. At the same time, the French historian notes the difficult nature of the demographic problem of the "Russian World".

Danish historian of the University of Copenhagen Mikhail Suslov in his 2018 work "The Concept of the "Russian World": the post-Soviet geopolitical ideology and the logic of "spheres of influence" states that "the concept of the "Russian World" is becoming an all-encompassing ideology" ^[42].

Russian Russian World": A Geopolitical Approach" defines the "Russian World" as follows in his 2017 article "The Russian World" by S.M. Aleynikova – Candidate of Sociological Sciences of the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus:

– "Russian World" is a Russian geopolitical strategy, the purpose of which is "collecting lands": uniting Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and a number of other states on the basis of common cultural and civilizational values into a global transnational entity ^[2].            

It is extremely important to note that S.M. Aleynikova defines the core and source of the "Russian World" as a previously unified state headed by Russia (the Russian Empire, the USSR). 

It is impossible to ignore the report of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the X Assembly of the Russian World Foundation, where the Patriarch presents the following definition:

Russian Russian world is a given and at the same time a reflection of the rich history of those peoples who are united by the Russian–Byzantine civilization" ^[14].

Russian Russian Orthodox context therefore defines the "Russian World" as a part of the Byzantine civilization dating back to the Constantinople era of the "Creation of the World" – from 5508 BC.

Russian Russians should also pay attention to how the "Russian World" is defined in his article "The War for the "Russian World" by the Ukrainian philosopher Datsyuk Sergey Arkadievich, who is in opposition to Russia:

Russian Russian World is a concept of an international trans–state and transcontinental community united by involvement in Russia and loyalty to the Russian language and culture" ^[40].

Russian Russian philosopher also confirms that the idea of the "Russian World" includes Orthodoxy, Russian culture and the Russian language, and a common historical memory.

Russian Russian World" is a cultural and historical matrix in which, for the purpose of self–preservation and survival in the realities of globalization and global problems of modernity, the East Slavic peoples (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians), the peoples of Russian civilization (historically living on the territory of Russia) unite in order to preserve themselves and survive in the realities of globalization and the global problems of modernity, the author comes to the conclusion that the "Russian World" is a cultural and historical matrix, in which the East Slavic peoples (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians), the peoples of Russian civilization (historically living on the territory of Russia), Russian Russian Diaspora, Russian compatriots (native speakers of the Russian language, culture and history of Russia) and supporters of Russia in the countries of the post-Soviet space and the world. Moreover, in the Orthodox context, the cultural and historical matrix of the "Russian World" dates back to the many thousand-year heritage of the Byzantine Empire.

Russian Russian World International Foundation was established on June 21, 2007 in pursuance of the Decree of the President of Russia, one of the main goals of which is to "support the activities of Russian diasporas abroad to preserve their cultural identity and the Russian language."

In the context of world politics, at the 2001 World Congress of Compatriots, Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time announced the civilizational split of the "Russian World": – "Tens of millions of people who speak, think, and maybe – more importantly – feel in Russian, live outside the Russian Federation" ^[22].

This step of the President of Russia, the author of the concept of the "Russian World", Peter G. Shchedrovitsky, rightly characterized as an act of recognition of representatives of Russian-speaking communities abroad as potential citizens of Russia ^[38].

In order to overcome the split of the "Russian World" at the beginning of the XXI century, national interests in Russia's foreign policy were synchronized in accordance with a large-scale state program to assist the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad to the Russian Federation ^[10].

Thus, the law on Compatriots and the State Program for the Resettlement of Compatriots have become the strategic basis for the so–called "Putin Doctrine" - understood as a set of state measures to consolidate the post-Soviet space on the principles of common security and common interests.

For the first time about the "Putin Doctrine" in 2015, former Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stated in his article "Putin's Doctrine", published on the website of the Russian International Affairs Council ^[11].

 The Russian President called on the world community to unite common efforts for a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis in order to preserve peace and prevent the escalation of the conflict – aggravating not only the split of the "Russian World", but also the split of the entire European civilization.

In the conditions of the "new Cold War", in order to overcome the split of the "Russian World", the so-called "Putin Doctrine" was adopted, simplifying the adoption of Russian citizenship for Russian-speaking compatriots and supporting Russia's supporters in the countries of the world ^[31].

One of the main foundations of the "Russian World" is the concept of Russian civilization (in the definition of which there are also many opinions).

Samuel Phillips, an American political scientist at Harvard University and one of the leading experts on intercivilizational relations, Huntington in his 1996 book "Clash of Civilizations" defines Russian civilization as an integral part of the Orthodox civilization from the Balkans (including the former Byzantium, which spread to the Middle East) to the Far East ^[29].

Candidate of Political Sciences and employee of the Center for Military and Political Studies of MGIMO, Maxim V. Harkevich identifies three main civilizations among the many civilizations: Western civilization (dominant on the basis of the unipolar world of the USA), Russian civilization (split due to the collapse of the USSR) and Eastern civilization (passionate in the context of overpopulation of its own territories) ^[30].

It is obvious that Russian civilization, according to Huntington's theory of the clash of civilizations, is in the zone of intersection of the interests of Western and eastern civilizations. This fact finds expression in the fact that along the state borders of Russia there are lines of global problems of humanity "West-East" and "North-South".

Russian Russian World is also becoming more and more problematic due to the fact that the "Russian World" has historically been at the crossroads of global problems of humanity. The author says this in his article "The Russian world" at the crossroads of global problems of mankind", published in the collection of materials of the international scientific and practical conference of the scientific publishing center "World of Science" ^[32].

Alexey Ivanovich Podberezkin, Doctor of Historical Sciences and head of the MGIMO Center for Military and Political Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, defines Russian local human civilization as the basis of a full-fledged national security strategy of Russia in the conditions of modern globalization of the world and the situation of a clash of civilizations ^[19].

Russian Russian World Foundation head Vyacheslav A. Nikonov in 2010 in his article "Not a memory of the past, but a dream of the future" (published in the collection "Meanings and Values of the Russian World") comes to the following conclusion: – "The Russian world is a civilization and as a civilization – it is wider than ethnic groups and nations, territories, religions, political systems and ideological preferences. The Russian world is polyethnic, poly-confessional and polysemantic" ^[17].

Thus, the civilizational criterion of the Russian people is beyond doubt. Russian Russian World", it should be said that Doctor of Philosophy and one of the leaders of the expert organization "Izborsky Club" Averyanov Vitaly Vladimirovich in 2016 in the report "The Doctrine of the Russian World" concretizes: – "the category of the Russian world awakened at the end of the XX century as a designation of the residual unity of civilizational, cultural, social, family, industrial, infrastructural, economic ties..." ^[1]. Thus, after the collapse of the USSR, comprehensive civilizational ties have been preserved between the countries of the post–Soviet space - which indicates the ongoing process of self-organization of the "Russian World".

Russian Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov made the following statement in his manifesto article "The Russian Core of the State" in 2020: "In 1990, there were more than 120 million Russians in Russia, and today there are 10 million fewer. Another 25 million Russians lived outside the Russian Federation at that time. Their number has also decreased by 10 million over the past 30 years. The twenty million reduction of the people is a sacrifice comparable to those we suffered during the Great Patriotic War!" ^[13].

Russian Russians in Russia numbered 120 million according to the 1989 census, and 111 million according to the results of the All–Russian population census in 2010 ^[5], then the national loss of the "Russian World" in Russia in the period from 1989 to 2010 is 9 million people. And if we take into account the national losses in the post–Soviet countries of the near abroad (including, taking into account the voluntary or forced change of national identity), this alarming figure is 20 million representatives of the "Russian World", as stated by the leader of the official opposition in Russia.

Russian Russians. For example, according to the results of the All-Union census in the Ukrainian SSR, as of 1989, there were more than 11 million Russians by nationality of Soviet citizens, and according to the results of the All-Ukrainian census of 2001, already 8.3 million Ukrainian citizens recognized themselves as Russians by nationality ^[8].

In 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the split of the "Russian World" as the main consequence of the geopolitical catastrophe of the collapse of the USSR ^[23]. The restoration of the civilizational unity of the "Russian World" has become the domestic political basis of the so-called "Putin Doctrine".

Olga Sergeevna Chudinovskikh, PhD in Economics, Moscow State University, in the article "Statistics of citizenship acquisition as a reflection of the peculiarities of Russia's migration policy" proves that over 9 million people acquired Russian citizenship from 1992 to 2017, of which 26% were previously citizens or residents of Kazakhstan, 20% – Ukraine, 11% – Uzbekistan, 8% – Kyrgyzstan, 7% – Armenia, 6% – Azerbaijan, 5% – Tajikistan and Georgia, 4% – Moldova, 2% – Belarus, 1% – the Baltic States and Turkmenistan, more than 3% – other countries ^[36].

It is natural that most of the new citizens represent the Russian diaspora (especially in the south-east of Ukraine and the north of Kazakhstan).

Russian Russians' national loss from 1991 to 2011 (9 million Russians by nationality of Russian citizens) was made up in 1992-2017 by new Russian-speaking citizens from the Russian diaspora and Russian compatriots (9 million people acquired Russian citizenship during this period).

However, it should be noted that, in addition to language and culture, a historical civilizational connection is also necessary, as stated by the President of Russia in his speech at the World Congress of Compatriots in 2018 ^[21].

In this speech of the President, in addition to such signs of civilization as language and culture (religion, morality, science, and so on), such a new feature as history is highlighted. Of course, history is the main national interest – the instinct of self-preservation of the nation (people, ethnos, civilization) and the vanguard of its self-improvement. Russian Russian culture and Russian history is the most fully defined concept of a representative of the cultural and historical community of the "Russian World" in this triune spiritual and collective image "native speaker of the Russian language, culture and Russian history".

Of course, the revival of the "Russian World" in the context of protecting the national interests of Russian civilization was regarded by the Euro-Atlantic side as a corresponding threat to the restoration of the geopolitical potential of the Soviet Union and (or) the Russian Empire. In 2004 and 2014, pro-Western and anti-Russian revolutions took place in Ukraine, which led to a civil war in eastern Ukraine, the threat of a new split of the "Russian World", the beginning of a "Cold War" in Russian-Ukrainian relations and a "new Cold War" in Russian-American and Russian-European relations.

Russian Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Economics, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Adviser to the President of Russia from 2012 to 2019 – Glazyev Sergey Yurievich – states that the Ukrainian crisis "cut the heart of the Russian world, severing the humanitarian, economic, religious ties connecting Russia with Little Russia, Novorossiya and Carpathorussia" ^[35].

Moreover, Sergey Yurievich believes that as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, the "Russian World" suffered catastrophic losses, "surrendering almost without a fight to geopolitical opponents its essential and by many signs (from climate to scientific and technical potential) the best part" ^[9].

The "best part" refers to the territory of Ukraine, which belongs to the historical center of the "Russian World". Sergey Yuryevich is also extremely concerned that anti-Russian forces in Ukraine are using the captured bridgehead to try to further defeat the "Russian World".

Russian Russian World" refers to the civilizational core of the "Russian World", as Aleynikova S.M. says in his article "The Russian World" as a cultural and civilizational concept, claiming that Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are the core of the "Russian World" ^[3].

Russian Russian Russian Russian World" Overcoming the split of the "Russian world" in Ukraine, "Donbass fulfilled the role of defender of the "Russian world" and turned into its powerful stronghold" – as evidenced by the doctrine of "Russian Donbass", adopted in 2021 by the "Russian Center" as part of the integration program of Donbass with Russia ^[12]. The fact is that the east of Ukraine (the historical region of Donbass) I found myself in the epicenter of the split of the "Russian world", where the "new Cold War" of modern times has moved into the stage of armed confrontation.

The difficulty of the current situation is also confirmed by the Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation for Socio-Economic Cooperation with States The CIS in 2013-2020 Vladislav Surkov in his 2018 article "The Loneliness of the half–breed", published on the website "Russia in Global Politics".

Vladislav Surkov states that "Russia went East for four centuries (XIII, XIV, XV, XVI centuries – auth.) and four more centuries to the West (XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX centuries – auth.). Neither there nor there is rooted. Both roads have been passed. Now the ideologies of the third way, the third type of civilization, the third world, the third Rome will be in demand..." ^[24].

It should be noted that in the context of this article, Russia went South in the IX, X, XI, XII centuries due to the formation of the Russian-Byzantine civilization. And, perhaps, the "third way" is the "Russian world"?

Indeed, Russia has no other way but to protect and improve the "Russian World". The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov also claims that:

  — "Russia is the country on which the "Russian World" is based ^[18].

In the context of socio-cultural methods in the educational process, the need to study the concept of the "Russian world" is very relevant ^[27]. In particular, in the process of forming the worldview of modern student youth ^[42]. As the candidate of Historical Sciences of the Moscow State Pedagogical University Tokareva Elena Anatolyevna notes, the formation of the culture of historical memory is associated with modern political processes ^[26]. It is connected due to the fact that modern historical and political topics have become more active in the sphere of forming the worldview of young people.

The theory and historiography of the concept of the "Russian World" in the field of the study of historical and social sciences is extremely relevant at the present time. Because the historical front of the information war has become very active. Especially in the sphere of influencing the formation of the worldview of young people in the post-Soviet space.

Indeed, in the context of the ongoing and intensifying clash of civilizations, the scientific need for definitions of civilizational models of development has intensified. Therefore, it is extremely important at the state and scientific levels to define the concept of the "Russian World", which has a complex interdisciplinary and pronounced civilizational character.

Conclusion

The modern historiography of the "Russian World" is represented by a few works of politicians, historians, philosophers, sociologists working on the problems of modern political history. In these works there is no unified approach to the definition of the concept, chronological and geographical framework of the "Russian World".

Based on the opinions of experts from various humanitarian fields, the author comes to the conclusion that in modern historiography the concept of the "Russian World" is still in the formation stage. Despite the long period of crystallization of this concept and the obvious exit to a kind of final stage of its definition, theoretical discrepancies in the state and scientific contexts are sharply visible.

The most obvious historiographical problem of the formation of the concept of the "Russian World" is the lack of a final version of its scientific definition. The latter greatly aggravates the urgent need for a speedy solution to the deep crises associated with the split of Russian civilization in the post-Soviet space. This difficulty is compounded by the following historiographical problem – the need to define the concept in a civilizational context. Since the use of the concept only in a political or ideological sense is clearly insufficient and does not meet the global challenges of our time.

It is obvious that the scientific and civilizational definition of the concept of the "Russian World" will not only become a long-awaited method of solving the crises of the post-Soviet space, but also a powerful basis for the national security strategy of Russia of the XXI century.

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