Duncan, PJS; (2015) Ideology and Interests in Putin's Construction of Eurasia. In: Lane, D and Samokhvalov, V, (eds.) The Eurasian Project and Europe: Regional Discontinuities and Geopolitics. (pp. 102-116). Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, UK.

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Abstract

The idea of Eurasia as a unique civilization uniting ethnic Slavs and Turks adhering to the Orthodox and Muslim faiths was developed by Russian émigrés in the 1920s. Putin used the terminology of Eurasianism from 2001 onwards, with the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Community, but did not make the idea of Eurasia a central part of his ideology until much later. In October 2011 Putin publicly advocated the idea of a Eurasian Union. The basis was to be the Customs Union established by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, but the intention seemed to be to create not only an economic union but also a political union, and one which would go beyond the members of the Customs Union to attract other former Soviet republics, particularly Ukraine and in Central Asia, and potentially other states. The aim of the paper is to understand the motivations for Putin’s support of the Eurasian Union. It is argued that while the proposal, advanced at the beginning of the campaign for the State Duma elections, was intended to boost support for both United Russia and his own presidential return, it also reflected the economic and geopolitical interests of key sections of the Russian élite.

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