Dead Souls
Journal: Anali Hrvatskog politološkog društva
Year: 2024

From early modernity, but particularly during the nationalist rise in the 19th century and again after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russians have been obsessed with the quest for their identity. At the intersection of the West and East, between a nation and empire, Russia has never fully constituted itself as a nationstate, instead understanding itself as an empire searching for its place in the world. This identity search has manifested through the messianic mission of being a "Third Rome"