From James Sherr, Hard Diplomacy and Soft Coercion: Russia's Influence Abroad (2013), p. 62
For liberals, the basis of legitimacy is consent, and when consent is strained (as in the eurozone crisis) legitimacy suffers. For Russia and its allies, the basis of legitimacy is 'history', which in the post-Hegelian lexicon describes what has yet to occur. Putin asserts that 'the choice of the Russian people has been confirmed again and again -- not by plebiscites or referendums --- but by blood.' By this, he is not suggesting that blood is a choice, but the opposite; that blood (i.e. identity) is more important than choice and that 'historically conditioned' relations have greater legitimacy than consent (which can be granted or withdrawn) or the 'notorious principle of national self-determination'."
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