Conspiracy thinking plays an important role in Russian culture. Contemporary Russian conspiracism inherits elements of the Cold War rhetoric, French anti-Freemasonic literature, ideas of conservative Russian Orthodox thinkers and North American Christian writers. In today's Russia we see two distinct, although interconnected, types of conspiracy narratives—official and popular. Official narratives, which can be seen as a component of the new Russian ideology and civil religion, promote a patriotic sentiment in order to consolidate the nation and solidify political hierarchy through a sharp distinction between “traditional values” and the “depraved West.” Popular conspiracy narratives share similar characteristics but lean towards a thorough disbelief in institutions. From this perspective, elites worldwide, including Russia, participate in the conspiracy of governments and corporations. Because of this attitude, popular conspiracy narratives often conflict with official rhetoric even if at times official and popular narratives seem aligned.

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俄罗斯的阴谋叙事：寻找身份、宗教世界观和俄罗斯政治

阴谋思想在俄罗斯文化中发挥着重要作用。当代俄罗斯阴谋主义继承了冷战言论、法国反共济会文学、保守的俄罗斯东正教思想家和北美基督教作家的思想。在今天的俄罗斯，我们看到两种截然不同但相互关联的阴谋论类型——官方的和流行的。官方叙事可以被视为新俄罗斯意识形态和公民宗教的组成部分，通过区分“传统价值观”和“堕落的西方”，促进爱国情绪，以巩固国家和政治等级。流行的阴谋叙述具有相似的特征，但倾向于完全不相信制度。从这个角度来看，包括俄罗斯在内的全球精英，参与政府和企业的阴谋。由于这种态度，流行的阴谋叙述经常与官方的言论发生冲突，即使有时官方和流行的叙述似乎是一致的。