Dismantling Russia: The Doctrines of Prometheism and Intermarium

What if the strategies shaping the war in Ukraine today had been devised more than a century ago? What if Russia were not merely to be contained, but “decolonized”—or even fragmented?

This idea, which has gained traction in Western political circles since 2022, is part of a much longer history, dating back to the early twentieth century and two now largely forgotten geopolitical doctrines: Prometheism, which sought to weaken Russia from within by supporting its non-Russian peoples, and the Intermarium, a project for a bloc of states stretching between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Seas. 

These doctrines influenced British, Prussian and French policies during the Russian Revolution of 1917, informed Allied clandestine networks during World War II, and shaped Western strategies throughout the Cold War. In the name of the struggle against Moscow, they reveal the ties forged between Western intelligence services, nationalist movements in Eastern Europe, and networks of anti-Soviet exiles.

Drawing on declassified CIA and FBI archives and previously unpublished diplomatic correspondence, Martin Bernard reconstructs this little-known history in a compelling historical investigation that sheds clear light on today’s geopolitical upheavals.