<p>In this episode, we are pleased to host Bojidar Kolov, a lecturer in Russian history at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø and an expert on the political theology of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Bojidar will help us understand how the ROC perceives its role in relation to the Russian state and how its discourse provides ideological resources for the expansionist aims of Putin's regime. He is also a participant in the <a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/english/research/projects/value-based-regime-legitimation-in-russia/">Values-Based Regime Legitimation in Russia</a> research project and has recently published on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2024.2334032">ecclesiastical populism in contemporary Russia</a> and, together with Pål Kolstø, on the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/9/1138#:~:text=The%20religious%20ingredient%20in%20contemporary,and%20salvation%20to%20the%20world.">religious component in contemporary Russian imperialism</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/center/religion-politics/relpol-podcast/alternative-text-relpol/8_russian_orthodox_church_bojidar_kolov.html">Text alternative to the episode</a></p>