On 1 September, Russian high schools transitioned to new "patriotic" history textbooks authored by one of Russia's staunchest conservatives, former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky. How do these textbooks mirror the core tenets of the Russian regime's ideology? What stance do they take on figures like Stalin, the dissolution of the USSR, and Russia’s war in Ukraine? What narratives will Russian students be exposed to based on these textbooks? How has the Russian and Soviet history curriculum changed in the past?

ECFR’s new podcast on Russia, “Under the Overcoat”, will explore the deeper trends beneath the surface of daily politics. For a closer look at history, our host Kadri Liik is joined by ECFR visiting fellows Ksenia Luchenko, Kirill Shamiev, and Mikhail Komin. 

Bookshelf: 
The House of Government: A Saga of the Russian Revolution

Soldiers and the Soviet State: Civil-Military Relations from Brezhnev to Gorbachev | Timothy J. Colton

Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More: The Last Soviet Generation
Alexei Yurchak

Under the Overcoat: the past is unpredictable

Short interviews and comments by our experts and others on breaking news and key topics from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) - the first pan-European think-tank. Launched in October 2007, our objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values-based foreign policy.

Listen also to Mark Leonard's The World in 30 Minutes, our weekly series in which we explore the big issues in foreign policy: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr

Under the Overcoat: the past is unpredictable

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