| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Russians frequently engage in heated discussions about whether xenophobia is at the root of many large-scale conflicts. Some analysts - whom we shall call sporadic supporters of constructivism - hurl accusations at the mass media: there would be no phobias as a source of conflict if the media refrained from emphasizing the ethnic, racial, or religious identity of the conflicting sides or if they ignored such problems altogether. Supporters, also mostly sporadic, of the neo-institutional theory, which is more in fashion at present, object to such opinions and claim that conflicts arise out of flaws in the institutional system. If Russia were genuinely democratic and ruled by law, the fundamental prerequisites for ethnic and/or religious phobias would disappear.
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