Many attempts have been made to explain Russia’s fateful decision to invade Ukraine, but the argument of the distinguished political scientist Sabine Fischer is that we can fully understand Russia’s foreign policy and its aggressive war of annihilation against Ukraine only by putting Russian chauvinism at the heart of our analysis. Fischer argues that Putin’s regime has long been driven by a mixture of aggressive nationalism, sexism and autocracy: taken together, these three elements constitute the chauvinist threat that stems from Moscow and that led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  An internationally renowned expert on Russia and Eastern Europe with decades of experience in EU-Russia relations, Fischer enriches her analysis with observations and conversations conducted in Russia and Eastern Europe over the past thirty years, including conversations with senior Russian politicians and colleagues in the run-up to and aftermath of the invasion. She also shows that the chauvinist threat stemming from Moscow is a threat not just to Ukraine but also to liberal democracies and to the liberal, rules-based world order, and she outlines steps that liberal democracies should take to counter the chauvinist threat. By bringing into sharp focus the sexism of Putin’s regime and its explosive blending together with nationalism and autocracy, this book makes an important contribution to understanding both the brutal war in Ukraine and the serious threats faced by all liberal democracies today.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction      1. What is chauvinism?   Chauvinism as an aggressive form of nationalism and imperialism    Chauvinism as sexism     Chauvinism and autocracy Why did Russia declare war on Ukraine?    2. Chauvinism in Russia  Nationalism and imperialism   Sexism    Autocracy 2020: a dire turning point      3. Russia’s wars    Russian warfare after the collapse of the Soviet Union Chechnya  Russia and the Syrian Civil War    Russia’s war against Ukraine  Reservoirs of violence in a neverending state of war      4. Russia’s future  Russia at war  Russia’s potential futures      5. Europe’s vulnerability     A brief history of EU-Russian relations Germany’s role Russia and right-wing populism in the West   The weaknesses of the EU How do democracies die?  Weaknesses to the East   The global fight for narratives      6. Europe’s response     Yet more chauvinism Ukraine’s future    The future of the EU’s eastern neighbours    Where next with Russia?  Dealing with the war in a complex world Reconsolidating liberal democracy  Reconsolidating civil society Conclusion Acknowledgements    Works cited    Notes Index