Anti-Colonial Colonialism of Revisionist Autocracies: How Russia and China Reaffirm Their Imperialist Identities

Why are Russia’s and China’s colonial policies toward targeted nations—such as Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Uyghurs, and Tibetans—legitimized by anti-colonial and anti-Western discourses? This paper examines and compares the discourses through which Russia and China attempt to legitimize their policies toward both ethnic minorities within their borders and nations outside their control. The central focus is the anti-Western dimension of their colonialism, which targets both those considered by Russians and Chinese to be culturally proximate (e.g., Ukrainians in Ukraine, Chinese in Taiwan) and culturally alien (e.g., Crimean Tatars, Uyghurs and Tibetans) Others. The distinction between culturally proximate and alien Others—and the processes of “othering” reveal much about the ontological insecurities of authoritarian regimes, which perceive the West and its values as an existential threat to their power and legitimacy.