This book approaches 'the Russian idea' as a problem, a myth, a paradox, and a trope rather than an ideology. 'The Russian idea' has been central to spiritual, religious, and humanistic projects and, at the same time, it has been used, with equal success, in illiberal, anti-modern, and anti-democratic projects, including as a justification for war-from Dostoevsky through to the present-day.

In the face of challenges of any single definition, the collection brings together theologians, historians, literary scholars, political theorists, and art historians to focus on different aspects of this complex concept and uncover the sometimes irreconcilable tensions at the heart of it.

The selection of topics and figures is occasioned by Putin's own speeches and policies, with the addition of religious and cultural themes that are salient in contemporary Russian neo-imperialist thinking. A special case is that of Anti-Semitism, insofar as Putin seems not to have pursued this aspect of Russia's political heritage (manifest in both Tsarist and Soviet eras), although elements of this have been aired by public figures. Under the broad umbrella of Russian Studies, the work is fully inter-disciplinary, with contributors representing a range of academic disciplines, including political theory, literary studies, history, philosophy, theology, and aesthetics.

Clemena Antonova is Research Director of the “World in Pieces” Programme at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. She is author of the monograph Visual Thought in Russian Religious Philosophy: Pavel Florensky's Theory of the Icon.

George Pattison holds honorary posts at the universities of Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Copenhagen. He is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Russian Religious Thought and author of Conversations with Dostoevsky on God, Russia, Literature and Life.