Raimondo Lanza

Raimondo Lanza is a PhD researcher and teacher at Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris. He holds a MA in International Relations from Saint Petersburg State University. His research focuses on Russian geopolitics, geopolitical imaginations, stereotypes, popular culture, humor and dreamlife.

Russia 2026: the Potemkin Elections

Those familiar with Russian history will know of the so-called “Potemkin village.” Under the reign of Catherine II (1762–1796), the general Grigori Potemkin — whose campaigns led to the conquest of Crimea and much of today’s southern…

New borders, new memes: Russia’s territorial expansion and “popular geopolitics”

After three years of large-scale conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Moscow appears closer than ever to securing a partial victory. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, along with the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and…

From anti-Kremlin satire to anti-Biden series: humor as a power tool in Putin’s Russia

When discussing Russian humor, one might first think of the dark, dissident humor of the Soviet era, when the powerless used bitter wit as a private form of revenge against the powerful. In those times, when the promises of Communist…

Is Russia actually that big? Deconstructing three geographical myths

Cartography produces simplifications and distortions of reality. In a non-verbal way, maps influence our representation of the world. By fixing North and South, center and periphery, we give precise messages about the political and social…

The new chip road between East and West

The term “Central Asia” generally refers to five post-Soviet countries that many struggle to name: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirgizstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Despite some ready-made exotic imagery about the treasures of Samarkand (in…

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