Russia's relationship with its neighbours and with the West has worsened dramatically in recent years. Under Vladimir Putin's leadership, the country has annexed Crimea, begun a war in Eastern Ukraine, used chemical weapons on the streets of the UK and created an army of Internet trolls to meddle in the US presidential elections. How should we understand this apparent relapse into aggressive imperialism and militarism?In this book, Sergei Medvedev argues that this new wave of Russian nationalism is the result of mentalities that have long been embedded within the Russian psyche. Whereas in the West, the turbulent social changes of the 1960s and a rising awareness of the legacy of colonialism have modernized attitudes, Russia has been stymied by an enduring sense of superiority over its neighbours alongside a painful nostalgia for empire. It is this infantilized and irrational worldview that Putin and others have exploited, as seen most clearly in Russia's recent foreign policy decisions, including the annexation of Crimea.This sharp and insightful book, full of irony and humour, shows how the archaic forces of imperial revanchism have been brought back to life, shaking Russian society and threatening the outside world. It will be of great interest to anyone trying to understand the forces shaping Russian politics and society today.

Preface to the English EditionPart One: THE WAR FOR SPACESovereign Territory...with No RoadsThe Smoke of the FatherlandSacred IceCrimea as a Territory of the SubconsciousDrum SoloJihad in DonetskGlobal BiryulyovoSeduced by GeopoliticsProfession: InvaderNoughts and CrossesThe War with PokémonKremlin FirewallA Sovereignty Full of HolesPart Two: THE WAR FOR SYMBOLSThe State's Game ReserveThe Elite Avenue...to DeathAn Ode to Shuvalov's DogsMissile ManiaTank InvasionPurveyors of ThreatsChurchill Dreamt It All UpA Racketeer with RocketsThe Torch ProcessionOlympic SchizophreniaThe Thugs' GameThe Sovereign from the Back-Streets of St PetersburgPutinism and Questions of LinguisticsWar of the AvatarsPart Three: THE WAR FOR THE BODYPunitive HygieneThe King's BodyThe Condom as a Sign of ProtestThe Protocols of the Elders of SodomTest for HomophobiaThe 'Miss Prison' ContestBreaking 'The Silence of the Lambs'The Politics of the Female BodyA 4-by-4 as a Teaching AidA Russian PotlatchA Requiem for RoquefortThe Land of Abandoned ChildrenThe Amputation of ConscienceThe Fiasco of 'Operation Sochi'Part Four: THE WAR FOR MEMORYHysterical RevisionismThe Holiday of 5 MarchThe Oblomov and the Stoltz of Soviet PowerA Bear of a ManMaidan in MoscowA Holiday without TearsWaltz of the Urals ChekistsThe Return of the GhostsTyrants DestroyedRussian ResentmentThe Flower RevolutionWho's Afraid of Svetlana Alexievich?The Private Nuremberg of Denis KaragodinThe Battle at the River IsetConstitution DayGlossary and List of AbbreviationsNotes