Authors

Shuhei Mizoguchi¹;  ¹ Hosei University, Japan

Discussion

Anti-Western narratives have long served as a key instrument through which Vladimir Putin justifies Russia’s assertive foreign policy and increasingly authoritarian mode of governance. Although anti-Westernism is widely recognized as a core component of “Putinism” and frequently invoked in analyses of Russian politics, the concept itself has rarely been examined empirically or systematically. This study fills that gap by offering a comprehensive analysis of how Putin’s anti-Western rhetoric has evolved over the past decade. Using “A Corpus of Vladimir Putin’s Speeches, 2012–2022” extended to 2024, the research applies computational text analysis—including diachronic word embeddings, topic modeling, and moral sentiment analysis—to trace the discursive transformation of anti-Westernism in Putin’s public statements. Two central questions guide the analysis. First, when and how did anti-liberal rhetoric become intertwined with appeals to Russia’s “traditional values” and claims of “civilizational uniqueness”? Second, how did Putin’s initially U.S.-centered hostility, coupled with a pragmatic view of Europe as a potential partner, develop into a broader antagonism toward the “collective West”? By examining these two dimensions, the study maps the semantic, thematic, and moral shifts that underpinned the consolidation of anti-Western discourse between 2012 and 2024. The findings reveal that as Putin’s perception of threats toward the West intensified, it became embedded in moral and civilizational narratives. These civilizational framings, in turn, transformed anti-Westernism from a narrow anti-American discourse into a generalized antagonism toward the “collective West.” Ultimately, the study demonstrates that Putin’s anti-Western rhetoric functioned not merely as a reflection of foreign policy tensions but as a discursive logic of regime legitimation, reinforcing ideological cohesion and moral superiority at home while justifying confrontation abroad. In doing so, it provides the first systematic, data-driven account of anti-Westernism as an evolving pillar of Putinism and of the linguistic mechanisms through which authoritarian legitimacy is produced in contemporary Russia.