PANSLAVISM IN MODERN RUSSIA: ACADEMIC AND POLITICAL DIMENSION (based on M. Danilevsky's ideological heritage)

Abstract

Abstract Background: While international tensions increase and Russia's relations with the US and the European Union are worsening as a result of the annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine, the presence of Panslavic ideas in the Kremlin's propaganda arsenal becomes more and more visible. Russian politicians, scholars, and conservative public figures often voice the central thesis of Panslavism about the difference and the eternal confrontation between Russia and the West and explain the nature of actual conflicts in the light of this thesis. Purpose: To analyze the contemporary manifestations of Panslavism in the academic, educational and political circles of the Russian Federation by examining the current role of the intellectual heritage of Nikolai Danilevsky, a Russian scientist and conservative philosopher, author of the well-known book “Russia and Europe.” Results: The material presented in the article testifies that Panslavism continues to function in various cultural and political contexts, including undergoing a new rise in Russia in the XX-beginning of the XXI centuries. Slavic motives today are not only present in artistic or academic narratives – as the contemporary appeal to Danilevsky's ideas shows, but they are also periodically instrumentalized for political purposes. In the imagined world of Russian Panslavism, Russia looks stronger than the Western powers, capable of becoming a center of attraction for Slavic neighbors. Radical Russian nationalism borrowed the agenda of the Panslavists of the second half of the XIX century with a view to restoring lost influence in Central and Southeastern Europe. Key words: Panslavism, Russian imperialism, M. Danilevsky, “Russia and Europe”.