ABSTRACT

Much of the literature on patriotic sentiment in post-Soviet Russia leans on public opinion surveys administered exclusively to Russian citizens. Absent a comparison group, such evidence, while helpful, can leave one adrift in trying to assess the meaning of a particular polling result. Drawing on multiple waves of from the International Social Survey Program and the World Values Survey, we benchmark Russians’ patriotic sentiment to that of citizens in a diverse group of middle- and high-income countries. This exercise highlights that while Russians are not unusual in the degree to which they have a benign attachment to and/or pride in their country, they stand out for espousing a patriotism that has remained consistently blind and militant since at least the mid-1990s. We speculate as to the underlying cause and highlight a potential consequence: the nature of Russian patriotism has lowered the cost to the Russian leadership of military aggression.

摘要

许多关于后苏联时期俄罗斯爱国情绪的文献都依赖于专门针对俄罗斯公民进行的民意调查。如果没有对照组，这些证据虽然有帮助，但可能会让人们在试图评估特定民意调查结果的含义时陷入困境。借鉴国际社会调查计划和世界价值观调查的多次浪潮，我们将俄罗斯人的爱国情绪与不同中高收入国家公民的爱国情绪进行了比较。这项活动突显出，尽管俄罗斯人对自己国家怀有善意的依恋和/或自豪感，这一点并不罕见，但他们因拥护爱国主义而脱颖而出，这种爱国主义至少自 20 世纪 90 年代中期以来一直是盲目和好战的。我们推测根本原因并强调潜在的后果：