War by any other Name: Patterns of Russian Colonialism

Let’s be honest, the mechanisms of Russian imperialism have been a blindspot of the magazine until now. Rather than adding to the noise produced amidst the shock of the military invasion of Ukraine, we commissioned this text by Anna Engelhardt that describes the recurrence of Russian strategy when its military is deployed in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, and Ukraine. In the future, we will also concentrate on the Indigenous struggles at work within what is commonly called the “Russian Federation.”

This text is part of The Funambulist 42 (July-August 2022). It will be available for reading to all subscribers on July 4, 2022.

Engelhardt Funambulist 1 — Last Soviet troop column crosses the border of Soviet Uzbekistan after leaving Afghanistan. The border largely took its current shape during the 19th-century Russian conquest of Central Asia. Banner reads: “Слава солдатам отечества! Слава сынам родины!” (“Glory to the soldiers of the fatherland! Glory to the sons of the motherland!”). 1989. / Photo by A. Solomonov (RIA Novosti).