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No, that would happen in case of regime change with the fundamental structure of the empire remaining intact. Should Moscow rule everyone under a different rhetorical disguise, then "Russia experts" with deep contacts in Moscow and few anywhere else will be in high demand

That may explain why many in academia are so invested into a regime change with the "liberal opposition" coming to power. Many Western experts have strong connections there and should those fellows take power, these connections would be worth more

Ofc they want it to happen
On the other hand, almost no one in academia has strong contacts in or even the basic understanding of the regions that could become the nuclei of functional states. I am talking about richer regions that now pay the bills of Moscow and thus could pay their own, too
Russia Studies community is *not* neutral

Most of them would win, should the empire remain intact (regime change). And lose badly to catastrophically should it disintegrate. The smaller the empire of Moscow, the less their Moscow expertise costs

They're smart enough to see it
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