Suchergebnisse

Lascurettes, Kyle M. Orders of Exclusion: Th e Strategic Sources of Order in International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

The article discusses the modern stage of international relations as a transition from the US-centric to another, polycentric world order. America has many opportunities to infl uence the formation of the future world order, which it uses for maintaining a dominant role in the world. However, America also has severe weaknesses for making the global transition; the main one considers the psychological unpreparedness of the country's establishment for a change in the global role of the United States. The country's transitional situation gives rise to an identity crisis, accompanied by the most heated debates in the political class regarding the development of foreign policy and strategy. In the variety of positions and narratives of the American strategy, one can distinguish (1) proponents of the liberal globalization and maintaining America's dominant position, (2) advocates of superpower status and resource dominance by coercion and (3) realists or those who call for building a new global balance of power and coordinating the US interests with other powers. This identity crisis is associated with the globally changing position of the country that has been at the center of the international system for the past 75 years. The American political class was never monolithic before and even during the Cold War, representing a range of diff erent foreign policy ideas and positions. However, foreign policy disagreements previously did not question the national identity and fundamental value of the country. For America, these values were associated with a global role in promoting the ideals of freedom and liberal democracy, previously underpinned by confrontation with the USSR. The disappearance of the Soviet power strengthened the position of liberal globalists and enhanced the strategic narrative of the global promotion of American values. The diff erence of the contemporary period is that nationalists and realists no longer accept the arguments of liberal globalists, resulting in a deepening of ideological polarization in the political class and society. The domestic ideational and political crisis splits the elites, delays the transition to a new world order, and makes it impossible to pursue a sound international strategy. Such a strategy will be the result of both an internal political struggle and a response of the country's leadership to the processes of pluralization and polycentrism developing in the world.

This essay assumes the significance of spatial imagination in shaping the political and cultural boundaries of the post-Soviet Eurasia and reviews the newly emerged geopolitical arguments in Russia. Rather than perceiving Eurasianist views in Russia as relatively homogeneous, I argue that such thinking is highly diverse and varies from West-friendly versions to those that are openly isolationist and expansionist. To support my argument, I select six recently published Russian volumes and group them into five distinct schools of Russia's geopolitical thinking, each with their own intellectual assumptions, worldviews, and bases of support in the society. While writing on the same subject of the Eurasian geopolitics, each author proposes principally different solutions to the problems that emerged over the 10 years of Russia's post-communist experience. The argument invites us to rethink the nature of Russia's spatial thinking and activities in Eurasia and to seriously consider engaging Russia as an equal participant in a larger collective security-based arrangement in the region.

"Russian Westernizers and Change in International Relations summarizes the Westernizing trend in Russian thought from the early nineteenth century to the present day. The book looks at Russian thinkers and politicians who have considered Western/European civilization to be superior to others and who have drawn the conclusion that Russia consequently ought to align itself with the West, rather than preserving certain traditional Russian values - and that not doing so is an impediment to political, social, and economic evolution. Within this trend of thought, the author identifies four schools - Christian Westernizers, Economic Liberals, Political Liberals, and Social State Supporters - and explores examples of each. The author compares Russian thinkers from different periods, finding contrasts and similarities within their political and historical settings and assessing their responses to their unique circumstances. He analyzes Russian Westernizers' self-definition and ideas of national freedom relative to those of Western nations, exploring how the West's definition of values and institutions have changed over time. He shows how Western historical developments affected waves of Westernization and pro-Western thinking inside Russia, arguing the importance of this being grounded in national state-building priorities. The growing complexity of global relations, the declining global influence of the West, and the war in Ukraine present Russian Westernizers with new questions and challenges, and the book assesses the resulting implications. This book will appeal to students and scholars of Russian foreign policy, Russia-West relations, IR theory, diplomatic studies, political science, and European history including the history of ideas"--

"The "Russian Idea" in International Relations identifies different approaches within Russian Civilizational tradition - Russia's nationally distinctive way of thinking - by situating them within IR literature and connecting them to practices of the country's international relations. Civilizational ideas in IR theory express states' cultural identification and stress religious traditions, social customs, and economic and political values. This book defines Russian civilizational ideas by two criteria: the values they stress and their global ambitions. The author identifies leading voices among those positioning Russia as an exceptional and globally significant system of values and traces their arguments across several centuries of the country's development. In addition, the author explains how and why Russian civilizational ideas rise, fall, and are replaced by alternative ideas. The book identifies three schools of Russian civilizational thinking about international relations - Slavophiles, Communists, and Eurasianists. Each school focuses on Russia's distinctive spiritual, social, and geographic roots, respectively. Each one is internally divided between those claiming Russia's exceptionalism, potentially resulting in regional autarchy or imperial expansion, and those advocating the Russian Idea as global in its appeal. Those favoring the latter perspective have stressed Russia's unique capacity for understanding different cultures and guarding the world against extremes of nationalism and hegemony in international relations. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Russian foreign policy, Russia-Western relations, IR theory, diplomatic studies, political science, and European history, including the history of ideas"--

Introduction -- State power in international relations -- Derzhava: what Russian realists defend -- Global balancers -- Realist westernizers -- Eurasian regionalists -- Russian realists and contemporary global transition -- Domestic critics -- Conclusion.

Russian Realism analyzes Russian contemporary geopolitical thinking, or realism, and explores the notion of Derzhava as the foundation of Russian realism. The author defines Russian realists as all those favoring actions by the Russian state in defense of its interests, including protection of national sovereignty, security, power, and prestige on the international scene. What makes Russian realism distinct is its ⁰́₈vision of Russianness⁰́₉ formed by the country⁰́₉s historical, cultural/religious experience, and its semi-peripheral position in the international system. The vision stresses the importance of survival, preservation of strong state, and protection of national interests from external infringement. Mainstream literature, especially in the West, tends to ignore Russian theoretical debates and narratives; this book remedies this by providing significant insights into Russian realist thinking. It explores the historical unfolding of the longstanding national debates about Russia⁰́₉s role in Europe / the West and how realists have reframed these debates in response to multiple international and domestic developments. The book also identifies distinct groups and debates within the broad school of Russian realism. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Russian foreign policy, IR theory, diplomatic studies, political science, and European history. It will also appeal to a broader general audience of those interested in Russia and international politics.

In Dark Double, Andrei P. Tsygankov focuses on the driving power of values and media, in addition to political and economic interests, in structuring US-Russia relations. By analyzing mainstream US newspapers and other media sources, Tsygankov identifies five media narratives involving Russia since the Cold War's ends and shows how Americans' negative views toward Russia draw from a deep wellspring of suspicion and are further enhanced by a biased media that regularly exploits such negativity, Russia's centralization of power and anti-American attitudes.

Routledge handbook of Russian foreign policy- Front Cover -- Routledge handbook of Russian foreign policy -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of illustrations -- Figures -- Tables -- List of contributors -- Preface -- PART I: Theories and conditions -- Chapter 1: International norms and identity -- Key assumptions: what makes constructivism constructivist? -- Constructivist studies of RFP -- Methodological considerations -- Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 2: Global (post)structural conditions -- Introduction: what does structuralism mean? -- The Russian case: the general and the specific -- Historical materialist approaches -- Discursive and institutionalist approaches -- Exploring the way forward: a subaltern empire facing Western hegemony -- Conclusion: promises and limitations of structuralism -- Glossary -- Note -- References -- Chapter 3: Power and national security -- Introduction -- Different realisms -- Soviet/Russian foreign policy through the prism of realist perspectives -- Conclusions: the promises and caveats of applying neoclassical realism to Russian foreign policy analysis -- Note -- References -- Chapter 4: Geopolitics -- Imperial geopolitics: Mahan and Mackinder -- Russia: the geopolitics of periphery -- Soviet-German geopolitics 1917–1947 -- Cold War geopolitics -- Post-Cold War geopolitics -- The geopolitics of Russian foreign policy -- Conclusions -- Note -- References -- Chapter 5: Nationalism -- 'Nationalist' foreign policy: defining the undefinable? -- Approaches to nationalism and foreign policy: driver or driven? -- Towards a holistic model of nationalism and RFP -- Towards testable hypotheses? -- Future questions and themes -- Conclusion -- Note -- References -- Chapter 6: Petropolitics -- Introduction

Preface -- INTRODUCTION: Russia from two perspectives -- The roots of the Russian state: autocracy -- A BRIEF HISTORY: Emergence and development -- Decline and revolution -- The Soviet state -- THE TRANSITION: The Soviet breakup -- The Smuta of the 1990s -- THE REVIVAL: Putin's system -- State-led capitalism -- The managed democracy -- The normal great power -- THE CRISIS: Protest -- Ethno-nationalism -- Corruption -- Tensions with the West -- CONCLUSION: Whither the Russian state?

Tsygankov provides a succinct account of the major periods in evolution of Russia's strong state construct by reviewing the external and internal contexts of its emergence, progression, and fall in Muscovy, St. Petersburg, Soviet Union, and post-Soviet Russia with an emphasis on the last two decades. Each time a combination of these contexts was distinct thereby producing different political outcomes in Russia. The book argues that a perspective on Russia from a Western viewpoint is limited and that there has been an alternative way of thinking about the nation and its problems