Doctoral Dissertation Research: Territory Identity and Geopolitical Visions of Russians

本研究考察了俄罗斯公民的地缘政治观念，以及这些观念如何与他们的集体民族认同感和俄罗斯的势力范围联系在一起。虽然人们对俄罗斯精英的地缘政治态度和意识形态了解甚多，但对普通俄罗斯人的看法却知之甚少。文献中完全没有“元地理学”，即普通俄罗斯人的区域和全球心理地图。这个博士论文研究项目将绘制俄罗斯人的感知地理学，以了解他们如何看待和构想俄罗斯的地缘政治领域，以及这些领土领域如何与他们对俄罗斯民族认同的看法相关。一项大型的、具有代表性的全国性调查（样本量为1200人）在俄罗斯进行了202个采样点，将评估人们对各种地缘政治和国家问题的看法，并衡量受访者的社会人口特征。使用回归分析，调查数据将用于解释民族主义信仰和地缘政治心理地图的变化。由于样本量大，可以比较俄罗斯各民族群体的心理地图，以及意识形态、性别、收入、年龄、职业、宗教、教育程度和居住地区的差异。预计俄罗斯公民对领土的看法和概念将与俄罗斯精英阶层的看法和概念相同，但他们将对领土/国家问题的重要性以及俄罗斯在艰难的经济转型框架中的局限性有更实际的认识。本博士论文研究旨在对四个广泛的研究领域产生影响。首先，它扩展了政治地理学中心理地图的使用，超越了文本分析或特定群体的小样本。通过将认知地图技术的使用扩展到普通公民的大群体，本研究将为未来使用心理地图的工作提供一个框架，而不仅仅是本研究对俄罗斯民族主义和地缘政治的关注。其次，本研究涉及普通俄罗斯人和俄罗斯精英在当代政治问题和态度上的差异和相似之处。俄罗斯人的地缘政治观念和领土观念还没有得到彻底的研究，在一个民主化的社会中，这些态度越来越重要。第三，“9·11”事件后，俄罗斯与西方新的地缘政治关系取决于普京政府与美国和解的民众支持。这项研究将表明新的亲西方定位是否符合普通俄罗斯人的信念。第四，普通俄罗斯人对俄罗斯近邻（前苏联国家）的感情强度是理解俄美关系长期前景的必要条件。欧亚大陆的合作或潜在冲突，特别是在高加索地区和中亚。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

This research examines the geopolitical perceptions of Russian citizens and how these perceptions are tied to their collective sense of national identity and Russia's sphere of influence. While much is known about the geopolitical attitudes and ideologies of Russian elites, less is known about the views of ordinary Russians. Entirely absent from the literature is the "meta-geography" or the regional and global mental maps of ordinary Russians. This doctoral dissertation research project will map the perceptual geography of Russians in order to understand how they regard and conceive of the Russian geopolitical spheres and how these territorial domains relate to their perceptions of Russian national identity. A large, representative, nation-wide survey (sample size of 1200) conducted across Russia in 202 sampling points will gauge opinions on various geopolitical and national issues, as well as measure socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. Using regression analysis, the survey data will be used to account for the variation in nationalist beliefs and geopolitical mental maps. Because the sample is large, comparison of the mental maps of national groups in Russia, as well as difference by ideology, gender, income, age, occupation, religion, education and region of residence, can be carried out. It is expected that Russian citizens will have varying perceptions and conceptions of territory that parallel those of Russian elites, but they will have a more practical sense of the importance of territorial/national issues and the limitations of Russia in the framework of the difficult economic transition. This doctoral dissertation research seeks to make an impact on four broad areas of research. First, it expands the use of mental mapping within political geography beyond textual analysis or small sampling of particular groups. By expanding the use of cognitive mapping techniques to large groups of ordinary citizens, this research will provide a framework for future work using mental maps beyond this research's focus on Russian nationalism and geopolitics. Second, this research engages the gaps and similarities between ordinary Russians and Russian elites on contemporary political matters and attitudes. The geopolitical conceptions and territorial perceptions of Russians has not been examined thoroughly and in a democratizing society, these attitudes increasingly matter. Third, the new geopolitical relationship between Russia and the West in the post-September 11th world depends on the popular support of the Putin Administration's rapprochement with the US. This study will indicate if the new pro-West positioning matches the beliefs of the average Russian. Fourth, the strength of ordinary Russians' feelings towards the Russian near abroad (the countries of the former Soviet Union) is necessary for understanding the long-term prospects of Russian-U.S. cooperation or potential conflict in Eurasia, particularly in the Trans-Caucasus region and in Central Asia. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.