Ivan Ilʹin and the Kremlin’s Strategic Communication of Threats: Evil, Worthy and Hidden Enemies

Abstract

Enemy images can be thought of as scripts that articulate a logic of enmity and identify a source of threat towards the Self. In this chapter, Russian émigré philosopher Ivan Ilʹin’s identification of Russia’s enemies are used as a reference point in the analysis of the Kremlin’s strategic communication of threats. The analysis of Ilʹin’s enemy images and their juxtaposition with the Kremlin’s strategic communication of threats opens up three different but complementary scripts that explain threats and risks for Russia’s state security.