Download file 45 KB Texto completo en español More of: Boris Lvin

The following article contains a reflection on the imperial nature of Russia and the consequences it would entail for an effective transition towards democratic political formulas politically and liberal economic formulas in which the Russian elite are engaged.
According to the author, both ideologues of perestroika as well as opposition liberals tend to consider the existence of a Russian national state to be a given. However, no attempt at reform could conclude successfully – it is argued – if that reality is not faced, namely the persistence of an imperial consciousness in Russia and the absence of a truly national consciousness. The severe identity crisis in Russia is as or more relevant, in the opinion of the author, than the collapse of the political and economic system that has governed it. Furthermore, the Marxist system and the ideology that accompanied it seemed to have concealed this problem that now comes to light. The difficulty in establishing authorities with legitimacy is closely related to this crisis of the imperial vocation of Russia that has been so important to its image as a nation of nations such as the "Third Rome." Moreover, renunciation of the imperial mission leaves it in a vacuum. In its interior it hides nations within nations and so on. The image of Russia is therefore that of the Russian dolls …