This monograph provides a novel long-term approach to the role of Russiäs imperial legacies in its interactions with the former Soviet space. It develops ¿Hybrid Exceptionalism¿ as a critical conceptual tool aimed at uncovering the great power¿s self-positioning between ¿East¿ and ¿West¿, and its hierarchical claims over subalterns situated in both civilizational imaginaries. It explores how, in the Tsarist, Soviet, and contemporary eras, distinct civilizational spaces were created, and maintained, through narratives and practices emanating from Russiäs ambiguous relationship with Western modernity, and its part-identification with a subordinated ¿Orient¿. The Romanov Empire¿s struggles with ¿Russianness¿, the USSR¿s Marxism-Leninism, and contemporary Russiäs combination of feigned liberal and civilizational discourses are explored as the basis of a series of successive civilising missions, through an interdisciplinary engagement with official discourses, scholarship, and the arts. The book concludes with an exploration of contemporary policy implications for the West, and the former Soviet states themselves.

Provides a novel long-term approach to the role of Russia's imperial legacies in its interactions with the former Soviet space

1 Introduction.- 2 Conceptualising an Empire In Between.- 3 Hybrid Exceptionalism under the Romanovs.- 4 the Soviet Union as a Hybrid Civilising Project.- 5 Hybrid Exceptionalism in Contemporary Russia.- 6 Looking East, Looking West.- 7 Conclusion - Beyond the Empire's Shadow.