101 What Role Dıd Nashı Play In Russıan Internal Polıtıcs And Foreıgn Polıcy? a Formulator or an Implementer? MErVE İrEM YaPiCi* AbSTRACT This article seeks to clarify the role of the Nashi youth organization in Russian in- ternal politics and foreign policy, and to identify its basic characteristics through a comparative perspective. To this end, firstly the European youth movements were briefly classified on a historical basis. Secondly, the predecessors of Nashi, such as Poteshnye of the late Russian Empire, Komsomol of the Soviet Union, and Idushchie Vmeste of the Russian Federation were examined. Following a dis- cussion about mainstream theories of youth participation, this article concludes that ‘strain’ was not the reason behind the emergence of the Nashi movement. On the contrary, governmental control/support as a structural factor caused the establishment and institutionalization of the organization. Nashi, as a Govern- ment Organized Non-Governmental Organization (GONGO), played at least four important roles in Russian internal politics and foreign policy. It worked as a pro-government device to counter the ‘Orange Threat’, a compensatory factor to diminish the socio-economical results of the 2004 neoliberal reforms, a platform of nepotistic practices to guarantee the loyalty of the youth, and a dynamic foreign policy actor implementing the decisions taken by Kremlin. When Nashi attempted to extend beyond the limits drawn by the state administration, claimed its autono- my, and showed its willingness to function as both an implementer and formulator in domestic and foreign policy calculations, Kremlin gradually weakened its sup- port to the organization until it withered away. Keywords: Youth Organizations, Political Participation, Russian Foreign Policy, Nashi, Putin * Assist. Prof. Dr., Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations, Adnan Menderes University. E-mail: merve.yapici@ adu.edu.tr Review of International Law & Politıcs Vol: 12, No: 2, pp. 101-137, 2016© DOI: 10.19096/rilp.2016216812