The document analyzes whether the Russian Federation should be considered an empire based on its characteristics and actions. It finds that Russia fulfills the requirements of an empire, as it has an authoritarian political system, is composed of many different nationalities without empowerment, and controls a vast territory through which it exercises military force and influence over neighboring countries. The conclusion is that the Russian Federation definitively demonstrates imperial qualities and behavior.

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The College of William and Mary
Czarism in the 21st Century:
The Russian Federation as an Empire
Dylan Thomas Farley
Russian and Post-Soviet Politics
Professor Pickering
16 April 2015

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Czarism in the 21st Century:
The Russian Federation as an Empire
Russia
Conclusion
Standing by themselves, the modern Russian imperial components of government,
nations, and territory do not equal an empire. Many states have one or two of these ingredients.
Canada and Australia also have large territories crossing an entire continent, and the United
States and Brazil have many indigenous nations within their borders. These in themselves do not
indicate an empire, but Russia combines all of these aspects into its state, suggesting that it is in
fact an empire. When it comes to Russians being the dominant ethnic group in the state, only
Russians actually control entire large nations of millions of people. This contrasts sharply with
America, which controls scattered and small Native American tribes or the United Kingdom and
France, who control tiny island holdings. Another important comparison to make between Russia
and other large, multi-ethnic states is that Russia is conspicuously bellicose. The United States is
not trying to encourage parts of Ontario to break off and is not annexing Vancouver, unlike
Russia’s current engagement in the Ukraine. Russia is the only major power that has exercised
force in order to gain territory in current times. Critics may claim that Crimea wanted to be a part
of Russia, but as recent as May 2013 only 23% of Crimeans thought, “Crimea should be
separated and given to Russia” (International Republican Institute 17). This is proof that Russia’s
move was not even done in the best interests of the Crimean people and was simply an act of
imperial expansion.
Russia will probably continue on this expansion trend for a while. It currently uses
military influence in neighboring countries under the guise of peacekeepers, but effectively

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foments unrest and crime in border regions (Ra’anan and Martin Chapter 3). Russia cannot resist
becoming involved in “peripheral instability” and meddling in the affairs of its neighboring
states (Mandelbaum 107). Looking to the future, a complete fragmentation of the Russian
Federation is unlikely, although it is entirely possible that some ethnic republics break off, either
forming larger states such as an Ingush-Chechen state or remaining separate polities. Russia
would be forced to curtail its expansion only by outside prompting or resource constraints,
because the Russian population views confrontation and expansion as nominal successes.
Russians may someday feel that the state has had too many excesses in disregarding their
personal freedoms, potentially initiating a color revolution.
The Russian Federation fulfills all of the requirements for an empire. The Russian
political system is authoritarian, enfranchising a strong centralized state with a president with
extensive powers. Russia is composed of nearly 200 different nationalities of extremely different
backgrounds with no state empowerment. Russia controls a vast territory stretching from Europe
to the Bering Sea, encompassing a extremely different lands and peoples. The Russian
Federation is definitively an empire in its characteristics and its actions.

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Works Cited
International Republican Institute,"Public Opinion Survey Residents of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea May 16-30, 2013." (2013): 1-40. International Republican Institute.
USAID. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.
King, Charles, and Rajan Menon. "Prisoners of the Caucasus." Foreign Policy 2010: 20-34.
Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
Mandelbaum, Michael. The New Russian Foreign Policy. New York, NY: Council on Foreign
Relations, 1998. Print.
Ra'anan, Uri, and Kate Martin. Russia: A Return to Imperialism? New York: St. Martin's, 1996.
Print.
Remington, Thomas F. Politics in Russia. New York: Longman, 1999. Print.
Ross, Cameron. Regional Politics in Russia. Oxford Road, Manchester: Manchester UP, 2002.
Print.
"Russia." CIA World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.