Kremlin Playbook 3

Heather A. Conley was senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at CSIS. During her tenure, she oversaw the development and publication of all three Kremlin Playbook reports. Donatienne Ruy is the director of the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy at CSIS, where she oversees the strategic direction of the program and the Executive Education course offering. She was previously an associate fellow with the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program, where she oversaw the development of the second and third Kremlin Playbook projects.

• Preface 1 Introduction 2 1 | Framing the Issues 5 Terms and Taxonomy 5 Russian Views of Traditionalism 8 2 | Russia’s Internal Dynamics 10 Conservatism in Russia 10 The Relationship between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church 13 The Actors of Strategic Conservatism 17 Between Multiconfessional and State Religion: Religious Repression inside Russia 19 3 | Russia’s Strategic Conservatism in Practice 20 Modus Operandi 20 Interaction with Other Channels of Influence 21 Strategic and Tactical Benefits 23 4 | Cross-Cutting Trends 24 Reuniting the Orthodox World 24 Traditional Values against the “Decadent West” 28 Local Enablers of Strategic Conservatism 32 5 | Impact and Limitations: Keeping the Faith 34 The Limits of Strategic Conservatism 35 Keeping the Faith 37 Appendix: Case Studies 38 France 38 Bosnia and Herzegovina 50 Georgia 58 Greece 67 About the Authors 79