Abstract :
[en] This book provides a detailed analysis of Russia’s ‘great power identity’ and the role of Europe in forming this identity. ‘Great power identity’ implies an expansionist foreign policy, and yet this does not explain all the complexities of the Russian state. For instance, it cannot explain why Russia decided to take over Crimea, but provided only limited support to break-away regions in Eastern Ukraine. Moreover, if Russia is in geo-economic competition with Europe, why has no serious conflict erupted between Moscow and other post-Soviet states which developed closer ties with the EU? Finally, why does Putin maintain relationships with the European countries that imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia? Vsevolod Samokhvalov provides a more nuanced understanding of Russia’s great power identity by drawing on his experience in regional diplomacy and research and applying a constructivist methodology. The book will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, in particular Russian-European relations, Russian foreign policy and Russian studies.
Commentary :
“The history of Russia's fractured relationship with and in Europe points to the enduring importance of identity. This study offers a rich contribution to the scholarly literature on the role of identity in Russian-European relations, with original and topical research on contemporary developments in the Black Sea and Balkans regions.” (Professor Roy Allison, University of Oxford, UK)
“As Russia's recent global escapades demonstrate full well, foreign policy making may involve more than the rational weighing of economic interests and geopolitical vectors. Foreign policy makers may also live out the reiteration of ancient myths and the recreation of symbolic, even sacred, geographies. Dr Samokhvalov lets us into the dream-world of Russian greatness, from Crimea and the Balkans to Kiev and the Baltics, and suggests how Russia's love/hate relationship with Europe is projected back and forth between this realm and the realm of foreign policy. Highly illuminating.“ (Professor Iver Neumann, LSE, UK)
“Vsevolod Samokhvalov helps us understand contemporary Russian relations with Europe and the world by exploring how Soviet and current Russian foreign policy elites understand their past. In particular, Soviet and Russian great power identity has been forged in contact and conflict with the frontier sweeping from the Black Sea to the Balkans, as imagined in historical fiction and universally read history textbooks. Samokhvalov opens the readers' eyes to an entirely new dimension of Russian foreign policy and its origins.” (Professor Ted Hopf, National University of Singapore)
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