Perceptions of foreign threats to the regime: From Lenin to Putin

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Shlapentokh
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
The West ◽  
Current Regime ◽  
The Past

During his second term, Putin’s foreign policy was strongly influenced by the belief that the West’s hostility could help the opposition change the current regime, as the West had done in Ukraine and Georgia. A regime change would deprive the ruling elite, mostly people from the security police and army, of their power and illegally acquired wealth. Moscow restored, in early 2000, the ideology of Russia’s “encirclement” from the 1920s, which suggested that the country was surrounded by enemies in order to legitimize the regime. At the same time, as in the past, Moscow tried to punish the Western governments for their disrespect for the regime with an aggressive and uncooperative foreign policy.

scholarly journals Power Fields of the modern world Politics

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-75
Author(s):  
A. A. Vershinin ◽  
A. V. Korolkov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
The Russian Federation

he spate of violence all over the world including the West makes us to pay attention to the factor of force in world politics. During the past decades Western countries tried to reduce the problem of force to the discussion about so-termed soft power. As a result they were not politically and morally ready to the outbreaks of the use of force in its traditional meaning. This fact to large extent explains their pained reaction to the foreign policy of the Russian Federation and the ups and downs of their politics in regard to China.

The Uncertainty of Soviet Foreign Policy

1963 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-464
Author(s):  
S. I. Ploss
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Soviet Foreign Policy

Politics cannot tolerate indulgence, it must be logical and consistent.” This was a lesson in Soviet foreign policy which N. S. Khrushchev administered in July 1957, or just after the organizational finale to his bitter struggle with V. M. Molotov, whom the victorious leader accused of favoring “the policy of ‘tightening all the screws’” in relations with the West. However, in the past two and a half years, erraticism has often marked the Kremlin's foreign political behavior. Does this vacillation originate entirely in “objective” pressures on the party First Secretary and premier, or in his own allegedly impulsive nature, or may it sometimes be due in part to a recurrence of factional clashes in the Soviet hierarchy?

“Un-Civil Society” and the Sources of Russian Influence in West Asia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Mankoff
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range

Despite the extensive levels of control that Russia has available to it in its neighbourhood, many officials believe that the West has outmanoeuvred Russia in the employment of soft power, particularly through the proliferation of civil society and NGOs in the former Soviet Union over the past two decades. As corrupt regimes in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan have fallen under rising pressure from civil society, Russia has grown increasingly alarmed. The Kremlin has come to see “color revolutions,” and the activities of anti-government protesters in Russia itself, as the consequences of a deliberate Western campaign to promote regime change and curtail Russian influence. Moscow has focused a wide range of civil society groups: anti-corruption campaigners, pro-democracy activists, journalists, and human rights defenders, as part of a Western-backed fifth column whose raison d'être is less the promotion of good governance and more the advancement of Western strategic interests at Russian expense.

IMEMO in early 1990s (continued)

2015 ◽  
pp. 105-117
Author(s):  
P. Cherkasov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Russian Foreign Policy ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
The West ◽  
National Interests

The article describes the debate on foreign policy of the post-Soviet Russia, which took place at the Academic Council of IMEMO in 1992–1994. What are the national interests of the Russian young democracy? What should be Russian foreign policy in the new geopolitical situation, after the collapse of the USSR? To what extent the transformation of socio-political system in Russia changed the nature of its foreign policy? What should be its principles and priorities after the end of the Cold War? All these and other questions were in the focus of IMEMO experts immediately after the collapse of the communist regime in 1991. From the outset, the discussions were marked by different approaches to the issues. Some experts put forward as a priority the relations with the U.S. and the West in general, some put Europe in the first place, and others  - the Commonwealth of Independent States, which brought together some of the former Soviet republics. But all IMEMO experts in general agreed on the negative evaluation of the new Russian foreign policy quality: the default of a senior management for clear understanding of strategic and tactical foreign policy goals, low professional level of those who were called to form and implement foreign policy, the absence of a single center for decision-making, the lack of coordination between various authorities involved in the development of a foreign policy strategy  - Presidential Administration, Security Council, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, Parliament, etc. As mentioned in the discussions, the initial stage of idealistic notions and expectations of the West prevalent in Russian society and in the new ruling elite circles after the fall of the Soviet regime was soon replaced by disappointment and even irritation towards the West. Both of these trends were equally dangerous to the interests of the Russian foreign policy, which was in great need of a pragmatic, professional understanding of realities. This policy had to achieve two main objectives  - full integration of Russia into the world community of developed democracies, and protection of its own national interests within this community. One should have been inextricably linked with the other. Academic understanding of national interests in the field of foreign, defense and economic policies, the development of specific proposals and recommendations on these issues for the state leadership has become one of priorities for IMEMO analysts. Acknowledgements. The publication was prepared as part of the President of Russian Federation grant to support the leading scientific schools NSh-6452.2014.6.

The Russian vision of strategic balance in the 21st century in the spirit of political realism

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-261
Author(s):  
Malina Kaszuba
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
International Order ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Strategic Balance

Over the past two decades, Russian foreign policy has evolved significantly. Its aim is to seek a change in the global balance of power. This evolution proceeded from attempts to establish cooperation with the West, through a confrontational narrative, ending with political and military actions. The purpose of this article is to analyze the present Russian view of the current international order and to define its future shape based on assumptions and specific actions in the sphere of the aforementioned foreign policy. Particularly useful for the needs of the conducted research is the reference to the theory of political realism. This is determined by the fact that the Russian Federation, contesting the current hegemonic international order, aims to create a multipolar world with the key balancing role of the great powers.

Initiative and Response in Soviet Foreign Policy

1963 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Richard J. Barnet
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Grand Strategy ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Soviet Foreign Policy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Source Materials

IT is a commonplace in the West to think of Soviet foreign policy in terms of a grand strategy. Yet the subject has more often than not intimidated scholars into taking the route of specialization. Problems of obtaining source materials as well as the desire to avoid complexity and controversy have frequently discouraged Sovietologists from approaching foreign policy in other than small pieces. During the past year, however, several new books have been added to the small number which both offer detailed analysis of an extended historical period and approach the development of general theory. Each of the books covers a broad period and each uses the technique of focusing on a particular instrument of Soviet foreign policy.

Aftershocks

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seva Gunitsky
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
International System ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sudden Rise ◽  
The World ◽  
National Borders

Over the past century, democracy spread around the world in turbulent bursts of change, sweeping across national borders in dramatic cascades of revolution and reform. This book offers a new global-oriented explanation for this wavelike spread and retreat—not only of democracy but also of its twentieth-century rivals, fascism, and communism. The book argues that waves of regime change are driven by the aftermath of cataclysmic disruptions to the international system. These hegemonic shocks, marked by the sudden rise and fall of great powers, have been essential and often-neglected drivers of domestic transformations. Though rare and fleeting, they not only repeatedly alter the global hierarchy of powerful states but also create unique and powerful opportunities for sweeping national reforms—by triggering military impositions, swiftly changing the incentives of domestic actors, or transforming the basis of political legitimacy itself. As a result, the evolution of modern regimes cannot be fully understood without examining the consequences of clashes between great powers, which repeatedly—and often unsuccessfully—sought to cajole, inspire, and intimidate other states into joining their camps.

Korean Nuclear Crises: Is There A Way Forward?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muzaffar Ganaie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Nuclear Weapon ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Nuclear Test ◽  
Nuclear Weapon State ◽  
Policy Challenge ◽  
Positive Results

<p><i>North Korea’s nuclear programme remains a key foreign policy challenge for United States. After its first nuclear test in 2006, Pyongyang has made an impressive progress in developing a credible nuclear deterrent through series of nuclear and missile tests. The diplomatic efforts to dissuade North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have not yielded positive results so far, as Pyongyang has not only developed a credible deterrent but continues to expand and strengthen it. The failure of Hanoi Summit, latest in the series of diplomatic initiatives to end the series has depended pessimism regarding future negations. Experts are skeptical about finding a diplomatic solution to the crises and the demand to explore other alternatives <sup>_____</sup> limited surgical strike, regime change, treating North Korea as de-facto nuclear weapon state <sup>_____</sup> to end the crises has intensified in recent years. However, dealing with the threat though these tools is highly risky and diplomatic outreach is the most preferred course to end the crises.</i></p>

The AKP’s Foreign Policy

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-46
Author(s):  
Kubilay Arin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic Revival ◽  
Western State ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Over Time

When Turkey’s Justice and Development Part (AKP) came to power in 2002, it brought a new strategy to foreign policy. Some scholars ascribed this reorientation to the rise of neo-Ottomanism, others to Islamization, and yet others to a Middle Easternization of foreign policy. All labels have one element in common: They give weight to Islam and Turkey’s imperial past as soft power assetsin the conduct of foreign policy by rejecting secular Kemalism in the country’s diplomacy. The AKP capitalized on Turgut Özal’s neo-Ottomanist foreign policy and Necmettin Erbakan’s multi-dimensional foreign policy by using Turkey’s pivotal geopolitical location to transform it into a global actor. The ongoing Islamic revival has caused the country’s attempted full westernization to slow down. But the West itself is hardly a monolithic bloc, given its own many internal cultural, linguistic,religious, political, and economic differences. I therefore describe Turkey as a “hybrid,” a modern and developing “semi-western” state, and argue that over time it will become ever more “socially conservative.”

Managing rivers for conservation and ecotourism in the Kruger National Park

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Venter ◽  
A. R. Deacon
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Three Rivers

Six major rivers flow through the Kruger National Park (KNP). All these rivers originate outside and to the west of the KNP and are highly utilized. They are crucially important for the conservation of the unique natural environments of the KNP. The human population growth in the Lowveld during the past two decades brought with it the rapid expansion of irrigation farming, exotic afforestation and land grazed by domestic stock, as well as the establishment of large towns, mines, dams and industries. Along with these developments came overgrazing, erosion, over-utilization and pollution of rivers, as well as clearing of indigenous forests from large areas outside the borders of the KNP. Over-utilization of the rivers which ultimately flow through the KNP poses one of the most serious challenges to the KNP's management. This paper gives the background to the development in the catchments and highlights the problems which these have caused for the KNP. Management actions which have been taken as well as their results are discussed and solutions to certain problems proposed. Three rivers, namely the Letaba, Olifants and Sabie are respectively described as examples of an over-utilized river, a polluted river and a river which is still in a fairly good condition.

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