The quick and unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union provided a fruitful ground for various conspiracy theories that started to grow and spread across the country. Some theorists assert that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the result of a malign plot by western intelligence forces. This talk will focus on Russia's use of Western conspiracy frames in official political discourse and how legitimizes reforms of authoritarian regimes.

Ilya Yablokov is a Lecturer at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds. His areas of expertise include Russian media and international broadcasting, Russian politics, conspiracy theories and nation-building in the post-Soviet space. His commentaries and articles recently appeared in The Moscow Times, BBC Russian, Meduza, Open Democracy Russia, Eurozine, New Eastern Europe and The Conversation.