At AUK its students, team, partners and friends had a meeting with Dr. Jade McGlynn, Author and Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Her research focuses on Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014, propaganda, memory politics, and state-society relations in Russia. Dr. McGlynn is the author of two books: Russia’s War (2023) and Memory Makers: The Politics of the Past in Putin’s Russia (2023).
During the AUK Talks “Memory politics in Russian foreign policy”, Dr. Jade McGlynn focused on Russia's security doctrines and some other concepts, what they tell us about identity, the historical memory, how that's legitimized domestically Russia's war on Ukraine since 2014 and many other tensions before 2014, and how it's used in Russia's foreign policy. In particular, she outlined:
“The most relevant area right now is to know how Russia is using the emotional resonance of historical narratives to undermine arguments in support of Ukraine and the different methods it uses to achieve that. And also to understand the extent to which this historical ideology is only becoming ever more entrenched, particularly at the top level and more normalized within wider society.
Historical memory and identity claims are not just propaganda but a motivating factor contained widely in doctrinal, strategic and conceptual documents of the Russian state. Russia believes the West uses memory in this way too, but it doesn't. In Russia, memory plays a geopolitical role, a country’s historical tragedies and triumphs can be monetized into soft power and also hard power. Particularly, memory wars can turn into real wars and be used to justify atrocity and genocide. Thereby, Russia’s war on Ukraine is about identity and historical rights over others’ futures.”
We appreciate Dr. Jade McGlynn’s insightful talk and a kind visit to AUK Campus, as well as Mark Voyger, AUK Director of Global Management program, for organizing and moderating such a powerful discussion.