THE PUTINIST NATION: PUTIN AND RUSSIAN NATIONALISM AS A REGIME STRATEGY.

After years of upheaval in Russia, Putin's arrival on the political stage constituted an important turning point for the country, as the new President successfully rebuilt a strong central government and gained the support of the Russian people. This paper lays out Putin's domestic and international strategies for rallying distinct and seemingly conflicting forms of nationalism: 'ethnic' and 'imperial' nationalism. The paper shows that at the domestic level, Putin branded his regime as the ultimate representative of ethnic Russians, building a quasi-nation-state that gave voice to traditional, conservative Russian nationalists. Yet by targeting specific international interests, Putin simultaneously revived Russian imperial nationalism in ways that complemented, rather than antagonized, ethnic nationalist interests. Ultimately, I argue that Putin has gained Russians' support in part by mobilizing diverging, and inherently conflicting, nationalist trends. Yet the President's persisting popularity masks a troubling failure to cement long-term support for the Russian state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]