Putin's Project: What Sort of Messianism?

Putin's Project: What Sort of Messianism?

I have thought a lot about the relationship between Russian Orthodoxy and Russian statehood. I don't believe the two are essentially connected, but I do think that as historical phenomena they have one important thing in common; they are both almost infinitely flexible in the way they co-opt partners and causes. And that has made it easy, at times, for them to co-opt one another. At different eras in its history, Russian statehood has expanded in the name of pan-Slavism, the divine right of emperors, Orthodox brotherhood, proletarian internationalism and, more recently, the rights of Russian-speaking minorities. As Benjamin Disraeli could tell you, no self-respecting empire uses the same slogan all the time. Orthodox Christianity, for its part, has in its earthly affairs shown a chameleonic gift of adaptation to almost all regimes, from Ottoman sultans to Soviet commissars, as long as its spiritual mission is not completely crushed. Orthodox history has its martyrs and its trimmers; both qualities have been needed.

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