Russians See Russia as Different ‘in Principle’ from the West and Themselves as Superior to Ethnic Minorities in Russia, Academy of Sciences Reports

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 2 – The Moscow Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has released a study of changing Russian attitudes about the relationship of their country to the West and about the relationship between ethnic Russians and non-Russian minorities inside the country.

            The findings, which compare where ethnic Russians were at the end of the 1990s on these two points with where they are today are striking, according to the Moscow sociologists (verstka.media/pochti-80-rossiyan-schitayut-chto-rossiya-princzipialno-otlichaetsya-ot-zapada-socziologi-ran).

            At the end of the 1990s, Russians overwhelmingly believed that their country was similar to the West, with only ten percent saying in 1998 that “Russia is fundamentally different.” Now, a quarter of a century later, 79.9 percent declare that Russia is different “in principle,” a clear example, the scholars say, of “’the consolidation in Russian society against the collective West.

            With regard to this point, the sociologists also report that the share of Russians who believe that Western influence has “destroyed traditional Russian values” has risen from just 16.3 percent in 1998 to 68.5 percent last year, figures that undoubtedly reflect the Kremlin’s ideological line and efforts to promote it.

            In many ways, the findings of the Institute study regarding ethnic Russian attitudes toward non-Russians and the way they have changed since the 1990s are even more striking and important. In 2023, polls found that half of all ethnic Russians were convinced that “’Russa is in the first instance a state of ethnic Russians and must defense the interests of Russians.”

            Twenty five years earlier, only 18 percent held that view. Also the 2023 surveys found that “almost 43 percent” of ethnic Russians agreed with the assertion that “’ethnic Russians are smarter and more talented than other people” with many having a distinctly negative view of non-Russians within the country.

            Almost one Russian in five (19.3 percent) in 2023 agreed with the statement that “’the cultures of national minorities” including groups like Tatars, Bashkirs, Belarusians and the others as well, “are destroying traditional Russian culture,” compared with only one in 16 (six percent) in 1998.

            The 2023 survey found that 18 percent of ethnic Russians agreed with the assertion that “’representatives of ethnic minorities must not be trusted’” and 20 percent willing to support the idea that “’representatives of ethnic minorities threaten the political system of Russia,”’ figures far higher than were the case in 1998.

            Also higher in 2023 than in 1998 were the shares of ethnic Russians who believe that “’ethnic minorities are guilty of the growth of crime in Russia” (almost 35 percent) and that non-Russian are occupying jobs that should go to Russians (27 percent). In 1998, the share of ethnic Russians having such beliefs was half as large.

            The conclusion is inescapable, although it is not one that the sociologists drew in this article. Putin’s promotion of Russian exceptionalism, something widely recognized, is powering the growth of great power chauvinism among ethnic Russians with regard to themselves and their attitudes toward non-Russians within the country as well.