Andreas Umland: The flaws of the Putinversteher’s Russian hermeneutics

During the last few years, in Western political discourse, a peculiar guild of public interpreters of the Kremlin’s foreign escapades and emerging conservative ideology has taken shape. These commentators often appear in American and European mass media, and in Germany – perhaps the most important Western country for Russia – have come to be known as ‘Putin-understanders’ orPutinversteher. These apologists for Russian foreign and domestic policy often accuse their opponents of lacking empathy for the Russian people, their traditions, concerns and views. Their demonstratively hermeneutical speculations are often accompanied by historiosophic reflections on the role of Russia in Europe and the profound traumas of the Russian collective soul.