Researcher
Helge Blakkisrud
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Helge Blakkisrud’s main research interests include Russian federalism and centre–region relations, in particular, the development of the institution of governors. Research interests also include Russia's High North/Arctic policy, nationality policy and Russian nationalism, as well as processes of state-building and nation-building in Eurasia, especially in Eurasian de facto states.
Blakkisrud is editor of Nordisk Østforum, a Nordic peer-reviewed journal for Russian and East European studies.
He has been a guest lecturer at the OSCE Academy, Bishkek, since 2008. In 2009–2010, he was a Fulbright Visiting Fellow at UC Berkeley.
Expertise
Education
1996- PhD-programme (Political Science), University of Oslo
1995 Cand.Polit. (Political Science) from University of Oslo. Dissertation: De russiske minoritetene i Estland og Latvia. Minoriteters responsstrategier ved endrede rammebetingelser
Work Experience
1995 Senior Research Fellow/Head of Research Group on Russia, Asia and International Trade, NUPI
2018- Part time position, Norwegian University Centre, St Petersburg
1995- OSCE Election Observer (various elections in Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Bosnia-Herzegovina)
1994- Editor in Chief, Nordisk Østforum (Nordic Journal of East European and Post-Soviet Studies
1994 Member of the CSSE Mission in Latvia. Leader of the Mission's mobile team
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersRusskii as the New Rossiiskii? Nation-Building in Russia After 1991
Russia’s post-1991 nation-building project has been torn between competing interpretations of national identity. Whereas the other former Soviet republics opted for nation-building centered on the titular nation, Russia’s approach to national identity was framed by the fact that the RSFSR had been defined not as a designated national homeland but as a multi-ethnic federation. This, coupled with Russia’s definition as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, suggesting continuity and a history of uninterrupted statehood, has enabled a range of rivaling understandings of how to define the “nation.” Focusing on top-down official nation-building, this article examines how, against a backdrop of shifting political contexts, structural constraints, and popular attitudes, the Kremlin has gradually revised its understanding of what constitutes the “Russian nation.” Four models for post-Soviet Russian nation-building are identified – the ethnic, the multi-national, the civic, and the imperial. Over time, the correlation of forces among these has shifted. The article concludes that, despite some claims of an ethno-nationalist turn after 2014, the Kremlin still employs nationalism instrumentally: National identity has undoubtedly become more russkii-centered, but, at the same time, the Kremlin keeps the definition of “Russianness” intentionally vague, blurring the boundaries between “nation” and “civilization.”
How Important Are Traditional Values for Putin’s Support?
May Putin in fact be losing more support than he is winning when he “talks conservative”?
Protest Potentials and Protest Realities: The Gap Between Intent and Action in Russia in 2022
Russian societal response to Putin’s war with Ukraine is hard to gauge. Anecdotal evidence and livestreams of pro-regime rallies suggests a consolidation around the state and President Putin, while evidence from protest and everyday resistance suggests growing opposition. How do we interpret these conflicting signals in a closed system?
Trade, Trust, and De Facto State Conflicts: Abkhazia’s International Economic Engagement
Does trade really foster trust? In the case of conflict-torn regions, developing trade links is often believed to contribute to transforming conflict or even facilitate peacebuilding. However, when it comes to de facto states—states with no or limited international recognition—the relationship between the two may not be quite as straightforward. A closer look at Abkhazia, a de facto state in the contested neighborhood between Russia and the EU, shows that trade can thrive even in a post-conflict situation where mutual distrust is high. However, as long as trade occurs informally and in the shadows, it does not help in building trust at the state level.
Russia's Neighborhood Policy and Its Eurasian Client States: No Autocracy Export
Do authoritarian regimes engage in active export of their political systems? Or are they primarily concerned about their geopolitical interests? This article explores these questions by examining Russia's policy towards Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria. In all three de facto states, Moscow is fully able to dictate election outcomes should it desire to, but, we argue, has increasingly refrained from doing so. These client states are unlikely to attempt to escape from Russia’s tutelage; and with its geopolitical interests fully ensured, Russia appears willing to grant them latitude. We then ask whether these findings can be extrapolated to serve as a template for understanding Russia's policy towards its client states more generally, discussing Moscow's reactions to attempted regime change in Armenia and Belarus.
Bennich-Björkman, Li & Sergiy Kurbatov, eds. When the Future Came: The Collapse of the USSR and the Emergence of National Memory in Post-Soviet His...
Perestroika, the fateful years when Mikhail Gorbachev's plans for reforming the Soviet structure ended with the Union’s full collapse, is for many of us still a lived memory. But how is perestroika remembered today in the states that arose from the ashes of the USSR? And what can this tell us about national self-understanding in the Soviet successor states? This is the starting point for Li Bennich-Björkman and Sergiy Kurbatov’s edited volume When the Future Came: The Collapse of the USSR and the Emergence of National Memory in Post-Soviet History Textbooks. The volume consists of four case studies of history textbooks currently in use in secondary schools and universities in four of the former union republics – Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine – and a close reading of how these cover perestroika as part of the new "national" history.
Geir Flikke: Russlands rebeller: Protest og reaksjon i Putins Russland (2011–2020)
Based on a review of extensive source material, Geir Flikke describes how Alexei Navalny has gradually evolved into becoming one of the Russian opposition’s top profiles, a process that culminated in Navalny's (failed) campaign to be registered as a candidate in the 2018 presidential election. Flikke provides an in-depth and detailed review of strategies, slogans and protest repertoire. Both "rebels" and the regime are increasingly using creative methods – the opposition to reach their target audience, the authorities to stifle all attempts at what is often referred to as a potential "color revolution".
Research group for Russia, Asia and International Trade
Research group for Russia, Asia and International Trade
WEBINAR: Renegotiating patron support for Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 war
Last autumn, in a matter of weeks, the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians lost two-thirds of the territory they had controlled since 1994. In the end, only Russian intervention stopped a full reabsorption of Nagorno-Karabakh into Azerbaijan. How has this affected regional power constellations?