The Idea of Failed States in Russian Post-Imperial Context
УДК 341.231:321.013
Подвинцев О.Б. The Idea of Failed States in Russian Post-Imperial Context // Антиномии. 2025. Т. 25. Вып. 3. С. 181-190. 10.17506/26867206_2025_25_3_181.
Abstract. This article presented by late Oleg. B. Podvintsev explores the concept of failed states through different stages if its development, with particular attention being paid to the intrinsic characteristics of a state system which is prone to erosion. Nevertheless, the idea of failed states has been broadly discussed in Western academic literature, the author acknowledges that it still remains understudied in Russian academic discourse, so he is inclined to consider those curious transformations that have been occurring with the term failed state in Russian context. Apart from evaluating numerous Russian equivalents to the term failed state, this article dives into semantic analysis of those connotations each of these equivalents bring into Russian public and academic discourse. The article concludes with the idea that manipulating with references to a former colony or a former part of the bigger state as a failed one, might compensate for certain traumas of those bigger states who experienced a collapse of their imperial well-being. In other words, recognizing the fact that the countries separated from ‘the Empire’ started to go downhill after this separation, might cause a feeling of satisfaction in minds of those who share an imperial system of values.
failed states; weak states; failed countries; geopolitics; discourse analysis; collapse of the Empire; Westphalian system
