The Decay Of Western Civilisation And Resurgence Of Russia

What explains the rise of populist movements across the West and their affinity towards Russia? UKIP’s Brexit victory, Trump’s triumph, and the successive elections and referendums in Europe were united by a repudiation of the liberal international order. These new political forces envision the struggle to reproduce and advance Western civilisation to be fought along a patriotism–cosmopolitanism or nationalism–globalism battlefield, in which Russia becomes a partner rather than an adversary. Armed with neomodernism and geoeconomics, Russia has inadvertently taken on a central role in the decay of Western civilisation. This book explores the cooperation and competition between Western and Russian civilisation and the rise of anti-establishment political forces both contesting the international liberal order and expressing the desire for closer relations with Russia. Diesen proposes that Western civilisation has reached a critical juncture as modern society (gesellschaft) has overwhelmed and exhausted the traditional community (gemeinschaft) and shows the causes for the decay of Western civilisation and the subsequent impact on cooperation and conflict with Russia. The author also considers whether Russia’s international conservativism is authentic and can negate the West’s decadence, or if it is merely a shrewd strategy by a rival civilisation also in decay. This volume will be of interest to scholars of international relations, political science, security studies, international political economy, and Russian studies.

This volume introduces readers to an age-old question that has perplexed both Russians and Westerners. Is Russia the eastern flank of Europe? Or is it really the heartland of another civilization? In exploring this question, the authors present a sweeping survey of cultural, religious, political, and economic developments in Russia, especially over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Based on the inter-disciplinary Russian studies program at Dickinson College, this splendid collection will complement many curricula. The text features highlight boxes and selected illustrations. Each chapter ends with a glossary, study questions, and a reading list.

Is Russia the eastern flank of Europe? Or is it reall the heartland of another civilization? In exploring this question, the authors present a sweeping survey of culural, religious, political and economic developments in Russia, especially since the nineteenth century.

Why and how will the fourth industrial revolution impact great power politics? Here, Glenn Diesen utilizes a neoclassical approach to great power politics to assess how far the development of AI, national and localized technological ecosystems and cyber-warfare will affect great power politics in the next century. The reliance of modern economies on technological advances, Diesen argues, also compels states to intervene radically in economics and the lives of citizens, as automation radically alters the economies of tomorrow. A groundbreaking attempt to contextualize the fourth industrial revolution, and analyse its effects on politics and international relations.

This book defines Eurasianism, a political idea with a long tradition, for a new century. Historically, Eurasia was depicted as a "third continent" with a geographical and historical space distinctively different from both Europe and Asia. Today, the concept is mobilized by the Russian foreign policy elite to imagine a close relationship with China and indirectly inspires the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. This book is of interest to scholars of Russian and Chinese foreign policy, to economists, and to scholars of political thought. Glenn Diesen is Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). His research focus is Russia's Greater Eurasia Initiative as a geoeconomic and conservative concept. Diesen's latest books are EU and NATO relations with Russia: After the collapse of the Soviet Union (2015); Russia's Geoeconomic Strategy for a Greater Eurasia (2017); The Decay of Western Civilisation and Resurgence of Russia: Between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (2018); Russia in a Changing World (2020); Russian Conservatism: Managing Change under Permanent Revolution (2021); and Great Power Politics in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Geoeconomics of Technological Sovereignty (2021). Alexander Lukin is Head of Department of International Relations and International Laboratory on World Order Studies and the New Regionalism at National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University). He is the author of The Political Culture of the Russian Democrats (Oxford University Press, 2000), The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia's Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations since the Eighteenth Century (M.E.Sharpe, 2003), Grasping Russia with your Mind (with Pavel Lukin, Ves' Mir, 2015, in Russian), Pivot to Asia: Russia's Foreign Policy Enters the 21st Century (Vij Books India, 2016), China and Russia: The New Rapprochement (Polity, 2018), Russia: A Thorny Transition from Communism (Vij Books India, 2019), as well as numerous articles and policy papers on international relations, Russian and Chinese politics.

This book defines Eurasianism, a political idea with a long tradition, for a new century. Historically, Eurasia was depicted as a “third continent” with a geographical and historical space distinctively different from both Europe and Asia. Today, the concept is mobilized by the Russian foreign policy elite to imagine a close relationship with China and indirectly inspires the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. A Russian-Chinese partnership forms the core of a new Eurasian region, yet Turkey, India, Hungary, Central Asia and the other parts of the supercontinent are also embracing Eurasian concepts. This book is of interest to scholars of Russian and Chinese foreign policy, to economists, and to scholars of political thought.

Spengler's work describes how we have entered into a centuries-long "world-historical" phase comparable to late antiquity, and his controversial ideas spark debate over the meaning of historiography.