Research: There is no demand for war and accession of new territories  in Russian society 

ArmInfo. The Russian society, despite the way of thinking about the greatness of Russia, is not in favor of the accession of new territories to the Russian  Federation.

This was announced on February 6 in Yerevan by Senior  Research Fellow of the Institute of International Studies, the  leading researcher of the Laboratory for the Analysis of  International Processes, Doctor of Political Science Alexey Tokarev,  presenting the study " "Sociology of the image of the future-2033".   As one of the authors of the study said, the personal value of every  Russian is the greatness of the country in which he lives. Tokarev  notes that until February 24, 2022, domestic political issues  prevailed in Russian society, and after February 24, issues of the  international agenda prevailed.  "Most Russians believe that a Russia  that has withdrawn from foreign policy is not the Russia of the  future. In addition, the results of the study show that the  opposition in Russia is not seen as an element of the future," he  stated.  

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that there is no  demand for war in Russian society, but there is a demand for  equality. "The results of our study show that the majority of the  country's citizens believe that the Russian Federation should remain  in the international arena as a non-belligerent power - peaceful and  global. But there is also a small layer of imperialists who are in  favor of annexing new territories to Russia. Thus, the results of our  survey show that people of this category, mostly of the middle and  older age generation, are in favor of the accession of Ukraine,  Belarus, Kazakhstan, Abkhazia to the Russian Federation. 

And even one person out of 500 respondents mentioned Armenia. But, I  repeat, this is a minority," the Russian expert.  At the same time,  he drew attention to the fact that for the most part, traditional  values prevail in Russian society - this is a classic family, many  children, faith, etc. "This is also a struggle between postmodernity  and modernity, the majority want a return to modernity," Tokarev  said.  According to him, no matter how paradoxical it sounds, the  Russian society does not want to see the work done by the  authorities, despite the fact that they pin all their hopes on it.  

The expert considers noteworthy the fact that despite  theabovementioned, the authorities and Russian President Vladimir  Putin are not identified in society.  "Putin's personality is  "non-stick", criticism of society never touches him. I would like to  emphasize one more important circumstance, there will never be a  revolt in Russia because of politics, it is rather possible because  of the economic and social problems," the political scientist added.  Tokarev also drew attention to the fact that Putin's personality is  still the balance of the system.  He also pointed to the lack of  subjectivity of the opposition in Russia. According to the expert,  Russian society does not pin any hopes on it and sees no future.   "The future of Russia is aimed at equalizing power and people, and  joint harmonious coexistence. Moreover, there is no separatism in the  country, but there is a division between Moscow and other parts of  the country.  In addition, there is a demand for an ideology in the  society that will unite the society," he said.  

At the same time, according to the study, the main virus in modern  Russia is paternalism, and "Start with yourself" is an ideology  shared by a minority. "The authorities are  rather disliked than  despised in the mass consciousness. It does not work well, but eats  well and lives as isolated from the people as possible. At the same  time, there is no demand for the demolition of institutions and the  removal of people. Power is tolerated with restraint, like a harmful  neighbor who has become richer in the post-Soviet era. The president  is outside of this relationship, being a true leader (with more  criticism from the young).  Instead of the political field, the  protest moved to the economic field. 

The huge stratification of regions dictates the need to equalize  socio-economic indicators throughout the country "Make Moscow  everywhere for us" - an emotional request to reproduce the image of  an ideal urban area," the author of the study noted.  At the same  time, he stated that contempt or hatred for Russia, a clear  unwillingness to see it in the future is a marginal point of view. 

"The absolute majority associate their future with the Homeland.   Among those who are ready to leave, the majority admit returning if  living conditions inside the country change. The country still dreams  of space. The Russian station near the Earth, the base on the Moon,  tourists near Saturn are the future, as in the1960s, it smells of  stars and hope," the expert summed up.  The study covered 48 focus  groups in 23 settlements in 17 regions (capitals, cities with a  population of over one million, centers of subjects, small towns,  villages and towns from Moscow to Kamchatka, from St. Petersburg to  Makhachkala), not only interviews with respondents, but also their  drawings. 

The study analyzes attitudes towards power, foreign policy,  opposition, economic problems, minorities, the war in Ukraine,  history, Moscow, regions, youth.  The study was conducted for a year  and a half by the team of MGIMO  and the Financial University (Alexey  Tokarev, Maria Tokareva, Ivan Kravchuk, Ruslan Ilyinsky, Varvara   Kryuchkova).