Description
This paper will investigate the adoption of Russian narratives about the 2022 war in Ukraine by political groups, media, and individuals on the left and the right of the US and UK political spectrums, considering, in particular, how they have reflected Russian governmental ideas about the causes of the war and justifications for the occupation of Ukrainian territory in domestic UK and US debates about the war. It will consider the ways that elements of the US and UK political right have adopted narratives that ground Russian claims to Ukrainian territory in ideas of ethnicity, history, and orthodoxy, and the ways that individuals, groups, and media on the left have drawn on Russian claims about anti-fascism and the perceived legacy of the USSR’s role in World War Two to explain the war. It will explore the ways that Russian claims about NATO expansion as a cause of the war have been promoted by both left and right. It will consider the ways in which transmission of these Russian claims about the war has been facilitated by pre-existing left and right narratives concerning Russia, particularly since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.
