Abstract

In contemporary Russia, the ideologeme osobyj put’ («special path») has been a master tool for the authoritarian regime’s legitimacy. Sometimes in a defensive and isolationist way, sometimes in an aggressive way, as has happened more frequently in the last decade. In this context, the theory of «sovereign democracy», reformulated, adapted and blurred over time, still inspires the national and international policies of the Russian political system, also influencing its legal principles and human rights discourse. The new course of Russian politics has also been undertaken in the light of the production of a new lexicon whose statements are arranged as weapons of war. To exemplify the process of rewriting or recoding the past for internal and external security purposes, the essay will focus on the formulation and application of specific statements: «falsification of history»; «collective West»; «cultural sovereignty»