Russia and the World in the Putin Era: From Theory to Reality in Russian Global Strategy (Routledge Global Security Studies)

"This volume examines the role of Russia in the world under President Putin's rule. When the Soviet Union disintegrated after the Cold War, Russia seemingly embarked on the establishment of a democratic political system and seemed intent on joining the liberal international order. However, under President Putin's rule, there have been dramatic shifts in Russian domestic and foreign policies, in order to re-establish itself as a great power. This book examines broad aspects of Russian political culture and threat perception, such as Russia's reaction to NATO expansion; its information warfare and energy policies; and its policy towards the Global South, especially the Middle East and Africa. The objective of the analyses is to explain the factors that influence Russian foreign policy, and to show how and why Russian relations with the European Union and the United States have deteriorated so rapidly in recent years. The volume introduces an alternative approach to the standard realist perspective, which often underlies existing analyses of Russian policy - namely, the work offers a theoretical perspective that focuses on the Russian sense of identity and on ontological security. This book will be of much interest to students of Russian foreign policy, security studies, and International Relations."-- Provided by publisher Russia and the World in the Putin Era Cover -1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Contributors 8 Preface 11 Note 11 Introduction: Russia foreign policy and the return to authoritarian roots 14 Notes 19 Bibliography 19 Part I: Sources and tools of Russian foreign policy 22 1. Russia's self-image as a great power 24 Russia as a great power 25 Russia as an empire 32 The role of the West 34 The break in biographical continuity 39 Notes 42 References 43 2. Russian strategic culture and renewed conflict with the West 47 The turn toward the West followed by Putin's "great power" narrative 48 Strategic culture and Russian foreign policy 50 From the Yeltsin honeymoon to Putin's policy shift 51 Russia vs. NATO and the EU: the gas wars and the war in Georgia 52 From the failed Obama-Medvedev "reset" to the Ukraine crisis 55 The Eurasian Union and the Ukraine crisis 57 A new cold war and the Russian challenge to the liberal world order 60 Donald Trump's impact on East-West relations 61 Notes 62 References 64 3. Images and decision-making in foreign policy: the case of Vladimir Putin 74 Introduction 74 Images in international relations theory: the received wisdom 75 Mapping images: the theory revisited 77 Vladimir Putin: his foundational image and his image of the Syrian civil war 86 President Putin's first core belief: the ontological centrality of states 87 President Putin's second core belief: preserving the dagger and not feeding the enemy's army 89 President Putin's third core belief: keeping Chekhov's rifle from going off 91 President Putin's fourth core belief: great powers' as custodians of international society 95 President Putin's image of the Syrian civil war 97 Conclusion and the path forward 100 Notes 100 References 101 4. Atlanticism in an age of great power competition: is Russia achieving its goals? 105 Introduction 105 The Ukraine crisis 110 Challenges within Atlanticism 113 Atlanticism in an age of great power competition 116 Russian foreign policy and the transatlantic relationship 121 Conclusion 123 Note 123 References 123 5. The battle of ontological narratives: Russia and the annexation of Crimea 128 Introduction 128 The history of conflict and annexation 129 The ontological meaning of Crimea for Russia 130 The context of conflict and the ontological meaning of Ukraine for Russia 135 Ukraine's biographic narrative interpreted by Ukrainian nationalists 137 Similar narratives: freedom and fascism 138 Russian rhetoric on Ukraine 140 Western narrative in the conflict 141 Conclusion 147 Notes 148 Bibliography 149 6. The role of energy in Russian foreign policy 153 Russia in former soviet space: energy and foreign policy 155 EU-Russia energy relationship 165 OPEC, oil prices, and Russia's power play in the middle east 170 Russia in Asia: energy politics 174 Conclusion 178 Notes 183 References 183 Part II: The Russian response to U.S. policies 190 7. NATO, U.S. grand strategy and the Russian response 192 The case for a post-cold war NATO 192 NATO expands, facing few obstacles 193 NATO on Russia's border 197 The Russian reaction 199 Was an alternative path possible? 206 The hazards of continued NATO enlargement 209 Avoiding threat inflation regarding Russia 212 Conclusion: looking ahead 216 Notes 218 References 219 8. The politics of sanctions in U.S.-Russia relations 227 Sanctions as a foreign policy tool 227 Sanctions in U.S. Russia policy 230 Sanctions and America's allies 233 Russia's response to U.S. sanctions 236 Russia's options in the global economy 239 Conclusion 242 Notes 243 References 244 Part III: Russian policy in the developing world 250 9. A comparison of Soviet and Russian foreign policy: ontological security and policy toward Africa 252 The role of ontological security in the engagement of the USSR and Russia in Africa 253 The convergence of ontological narratives 257 The emergence of Soviet policy in the developing world 258 From retrenchment to the collapse of the Soviet state 260 The Russian federation and Africa 262 Conclusion 266 Notes 268 References 268 10. Russia's expanding role in the eastern Mediterranean: opportunities and challenges 273 Russia's objectives in the eastern Mediterranean 273 Russia's energy policy in the eastern Mediterranean 274 Russia's military presence in the eastern Mediterranean: Syria 277 Russia's relations with Libya, Egypt and Cyprus 279 Russia as a mediator 281 Russia's relations with Turkey 281 Conclusion 284 Notes 284 References 284 11. The new great game: ontological factors in western and rising powers' competition in Venezuela 289 Western perspective: growing dissonance and transatlantic divide 290 Historical context 290 Security interests 291 Economic interests 293 Normative and ontological interests 294 Transatlantic divisions 294 Rising powers: converging and conflicting interests 296 Historical context 296 Economic interests 297 Geopolitical and ontological approaches 302 Global shifts 304 Notes 304 References 305 Conclusion 309 Index 311 Russia's self-image as a great power / Dina Moulioukova and Roger E. Kanet -- Russian strategic culture and renewed conflict with the West / Roger E. Kanet -- Images and decision-making in foreign policy: the case of Vladimir Putin / Aleksandar Jankovski -- Atlanticism in an age of great power competition: is Russia achieving its goals? / Suzanne Loftus -- The battle of ontological narratives: Russia and the annexation of Crimea / Dina Moulioukova and Roger E. Kanet -- The role of energy in Russian foreign policy / Arsen Gasparyan -- NATO, US grand strategy and the Russian response / Rajan Menon and William Ruger -- The Russian response to U.S. sanctions / Charles E. Ziegler -- A comparison of Soviet and Russian foreign policy: ontological security and policy toward Africa / Roger E. Kanet and Dina Moulioukova -- Russia's expanding role in the Eastern Mediterranean: opportunities and challenges / Nuray Ibryamova -- The new great game: ontological factors in Western and rising powers competition in Venezuela / Dina Moulioukova and Karina Brennan