HISTORICAL INCREMENTALISM AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE (MIS) PERCEPTION OF LIBERALISM IN RUSSIA. GUIDANCE FROM IN-COUNTRY EXPERTS
HISTORICAL INCREMENTALISM AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE (MIS) PERCEPTION OF LIBERALISM IN RUSSIA. GUIDANCE FROM IN-COUNTRY EXPERTS

Summary/Abstract: The Ukraine crisis and the events that followed have brought about an unprecedented strain within EU-Russia system of relations, highlighting the major drift between Russia and the Western, liberal world. EU’s deficiency to predict the lack of results in influencing Russia's agenda has translated into an incapability of understanding the Russian mind-set: for the Russian society, the economic crisis and welfare deficit, as a direct result of Western sanctions, did not materialise into a decline in the population’s support for Kremlin, nor into a rising criticism towards the president as being held accountable for the country's economic situation. On the contrary, the popularity of President Putin has increased considerably since the crisis in Ukraine. A significant explanatory power of such trends resides in the historical incrementalism of the Russian society with deep roots in a series of dramatic events and sudden changes over the last century. Thus, the current paper revolves around capturing Russians’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the concept of liberalism and the Western model of democracy, through in-country expert interviews; such an approach could contribute to a better understanding of the Russian society and implicitly to building a more effective dialogue and communication between the two actors.

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