The Steppe and its Empires: The Russian Empire and its Eurasian Counterparts
Join us as we welcome Professor Michael Khodarkovsky to speak about his recent book 'The Steppe and its Empires: The Russian Empire and its Eurasian Counterparts'
Throughout its existence, Russia has been a hybrid empire shaped by both Europe and Asia. Focusing on the formation of the Russian state between the sixteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries, Michael Khodarkovsky examines Russia’s structural similarities with its neighbors in Asia―the Ottoman, Persian, Mughal, and Chinese empires. While most historians have noted the transformations that brought Russia closer to modern European societies, the Russian empire’s shared characteristics with its non-European counterparts remain poorly understood.
Khodarkovsky reveals the critical role of the Eurasian steppe in the formation of the empires, whose military-social institutions and political culture were distinctly different from those of the West. Ultimately, he argues that Russia is best understood as a hybrid Eurasian empire whose steppe origins and fluid frontiers propelled its relentless expansion, producing a vastly diverse society with a blurred sense of national identity.
Meet our speaker:
Michael Khodarkovsky is a professor of Russian history at Loyola University Chicago. He grew up in Kyiv, in Soviet Ukraine, received his BA from Kalmyk State University in Soviet Russia, and his PhD from the University of Chicago. He is the author of five books and numerous other publications in both academic and public media. His primary expertise is Russian imperial history, its colonial dimensions, and the histories of the non-Christian peoples of the Russian empire.
Meet our chair:
Marc David Baer is the Head of Department of International History at the LSE. He is an expert in Middle Eastern and European History, the Ottoman Empire, and Muslim-Jewish Relations. His most recent book is The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars, and Caliphs, an international bestseller shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize in 2022.
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