Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Russia as a great power

2009; Routledge; Volume: 20; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09592310902975398

1743-9558

Paul B. Rich,

Global Energy Security and Policy

Abstract This paper explores historically Russia's status as a great power in first the European and later the global states system. It argues that its role as a 'superpower' was really a temporary aberration during the Cold War period and that since the collapse of the Soviet Union Russian foreign policy has been essentially guided by the desire to reaffirm its great power status and emergence as an energy superpower centred on the export of oil and gas. Western policy towards Russia needs to be guided by a far more sophisticated awareness of this transformation and a greater understanding of the importance of the symbols of power and status that might look rather dated and backward looking in terms of the construction of regional European security and the 'post-national' project of the European Union. Keywords: great powerslavophilesorientalismoccidentalismrealpolitiknomenklaturasuperpower Notes 1. For a review of this debate see Yekelchyk Yekelchyk, Serhy. September–December 2004. Interpreting Russia's Imperial Dimension. Canadian Slavonic Papers, [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar], 'Interpreting Russia's Imperial Dimension'. 2. See, for example, Lucas Lucas, Edward. 2008. The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West, London: Palgrave Macmillan. [Google Scholar], The New Cold War. 3. Craig and George Craig, Gordon A. and George, Alexander L. 1983. Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Problems of Our Time, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar], Force and Statecraft, 3. 4. Craig and George Craig, Gordon A. and George, Alexander L. 1983. Force and Statecraft: Diplomatic Problems of Our Time, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar], Force and Statecraft, 5. 5. In Scotland, for example, there was the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320. In the Declaration the Scottish nobles and clergy claimed that Robert Bruce was King of Scotland not on the basis of the traditional notion of the Divine Right of Kings but because the nation had chosen him and could in turn choose another king if they were betrayed by the king. 6. Pipes Pipes, Richard. 1974. Russia Under The Old Regime, London: Penguin Books. [Google Scholar], Russia under the Old Regime, 86. 7. While this political interpretation continues to dominate debate about Russian national identity and statehood, alternative interpretations based on Russian myths of landscape and map making are now beginning to develop with in Russian studies. Valerie Kivelson Kivelson, Valerie. 2006. Cartographies of Tsardom: The Land and Its Meanings in Seventeenth Century Russia, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. [Google Scholar] in an important study has suggested that 'spatial and territorial thinking contributed to shaping a more interactive, inclusive polity than has generally been imagined in discussions of Muscovy under Romanov autocrats' (Cartographies of Tsardom, 11). This has important implications for work on later period of Russian history and the imagination of landscape. 8. Berlin Berlin, Isaiah. The Proper Study of Mankind. London: Pimlico, 1998. [Google Scholar], 'The Counter Enlightenment' in Berlin, The Proper Study of Mankind, 243–68. See also Pipes, Russian Conservation. 9. Berlin Berlin, Isaiah. The Proper Study of Mankind. London: Pimlico, 1998. [Google Scholar], 'The Counter Enlightenment' in Berlin, The Proper Study of Mankind, 112. 10. A number of Russian writers attacked Catherine for her hypocrisy in corresponding with French Enlightenment intellectuals while still maintaining the system of serfdom inside Russia. The poet Pushkin called her a 'Tartuffe' in petticoats (Madariaga, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great, 581). 11. See in particular Raeff Raeff, Marc. 1966. Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia: The Eighteenth Century Nobility, New York: Harcourt, Brace. [Google Scholar], Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia. 12. Pipes, Russia under the Old Regime, 114. 13. Madariaga, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great, 583. 14. Metternich's diplomatic role in the creation of such a new post-war order was the subject of Henry Kissinger's admiring Harvard doctoral dissertation. 15. Billington Billington, James H. 1970. The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretative History of Russian Culture, New York: Vintage Books. [Google Scholar], The Icon and the Axe, p. 266. 16. Craig and George, Force and Statecraft, 34. 17. English English, Robert D. 2000. Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev, Intellectuals & and the End of the Cold War, New York: Columbia University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Russia and the Idea of the West, 21–2. 18. Malia Malia, Martin. 1999. Russia Under Western Eyes: From the Bronze Horseman to the Lenin Mausoleum, Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Russia Under Western Eyes, 156–7; Longworth Longworth, Philip. 2005. Russia's Empires: Their Rise and Fall from Prehistory to Putin, John Murray: London. [Google Scholar], Russia's Empires, 203–4. 19. Malia, Russia Under Western Eyes, 159. 20. Longworth, Russia's Empires, 210. 21. Grau Grau, Lester W. 1998. The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar], The Bear Went over the Mountain. 22. Longworth, Russia's Empires, 190. 23. Cited in Longworth, Russia's Empires, 199. 24. Malia, Russia Under Western Eyes, 98–103. 25. Cited in Malia, Russia Under Western Eyes, 100. 26. Susan Layton Layton, Susan. "Nineteenth Century Russian Mythologies of Caucasian Savagery". In Russia's Orient Edited by: Brower and Lazzerini. 80–96. [Google Scholar], 'Nineteenth Century Russian Mythologies of Caucasian Savagery' in Brower and Lazzerini, Russia's Orient; Layton Layton, Susan. 2004. Russian Literature and Empire: Conquest of the Caucasus from Pushkin to Tolstoy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar], Russian Literature and Empire. 27. Lieven Lieven, Dominic. 2003. Empire: The Russian Empire and Its Rivals from the Sixteenth Century to the Present, London: Pimlico. [Google Scholar], Empire, 212. 28. Lieven Lieven, Dominic. 2003. Empire: The Russian Empire and Its Rivals from the Sixteenth Century to the Present, London: Pimlico. [Google Scholar], Empire, 275. 29. Kelly Kelly, Laurence. 2003. Lermontov: Tragedy in the Caucasus, London: I.B. Tauris. [Google Scholar], Lermontov: Tragedy in the Caucasus, 52–3. See also Sharafuddin Sharafuddin, Mohammed. 1994. Islam and Romantic Orientalism: Literary Encounters with the Orient, London: I.B. Tauris. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], Islam and Romantic Orientalism. 30. Layton, 'Nineteenth Century Russian Mythologies of Caucasian Savagery', 82; See also Said, Orientalism. 31. Layton, 'Nineteenth Century Russian Mythologies of Caucasian Savagery', 82, 96. See also Jersild Jersild, Austin. 2002. Orientalism and Empire: North Caucasus Mountain Peoples and the Georgian Frontier, 1845–1917, Montreal and London: McGill-Queens Press. [Google Scholar], Orientalism and Empire, 60–1 and passim. 32. Malia, Russia Under Western Eyes, 164. 33. Jersild Jersild, Austin. 'From Savagery to Citizenship'. In Orientalism and Empire, Jersild. [Google Scholar], 'From Savagery to Citizenship', 101–11. 34. Lieven, Empire, 283. 35. See in particular Fox Fox, William T.R. 1944. The Super-Powers, New York: Harcourt, Brace. [Google Scholar], The Super-Powers. 36. Clayton Clayton, Anthony. 1986. The British Empire as a Superpower, 1919–1939, London: Macmillan. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], The British Empire as a Super Power. 37. Brzezinski Brzezinski, Zbigniew. 1997. The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Rivals, New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar], The Great Chessboard, 6. 38. I am indebted to the late Gerry Segal for this formulation. 39. Dibb Dibb, Paul. 1988. The Soviet Union: The Incomplete Superpower, London: The Macmillan Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], The Soviet Union: The Incomplete Superpower, 67. 40. Kennedy Kennedy, Paul. Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. New York: Vintage Books, 1987. [Google Scholar], Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. 41. See Dibb, The Soviet Union: The Incomplete Superpower, 265 and passim. 42. Valerie Bunce Bunce, Valerie. 1993. "Transforming Russia: A Comparison of reforms under Alexander II and Mikhail Gorbachev". In Past as Prelude: History in the Making of a New World Order, Edited by: Woo-Cumings, Meredith and Loriaux, Michael. 111–36. Boulder: Westview Press. [Google Scholar], 'Transforming Russia'. 43. Trimberger Trimberger, Ellen Kay. 1978. "A Theory of Elite Revolutions". In Revolution, Edited by: Goldstone, Jack A. 159–72. New York: Harper and Row. [Google Scholar], 'A Theory of Elite Revolutions'. 44. English, Russia and the Idea of the West, 213–15. 45. English, Russia and the Idea of the West, 208–9. 46. English, Russia and the Idea of the West, 227. 47. An approach suggested by Naomi Cline, The Shock Doctrine, though her attempts to support it by such wide-ranging and disparate examples as Chile, South Africa and Russia remain rather unconvincing. 48. Aslund Aslund, Anders. 2007. Russia's Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed, Washington DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics. [Google Scholar], Russia's Capitalist Revolution, 83. 49. Aslund Aslund, Anders. 2007. Russia's Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed, Washington DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics. [Google Scholar], Russia's Capitalist Revolution, 102. 50. Aslund Aslund, Anders. 2007. Russia's Capitalist Revolution: Why Market Reform Succeeded and Democracy Failed, Washington DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics. [Google Scholar], Russia's Capitalist Revolution, 105. 51. Litvinenko Litvinenko, Alexander and (with Yuri Felshtinsky). 2007. Blowing Up Russia, London: Gibson Square. [Google Scholar], Blowing Up Russia, xxii–xxiii. Litvinenko argues that the two figures who were especially prominent in saving the old KGB from destruction – Yevgeny Savostianov and Sergei Stepashin were supposedly democrats – were, in fact, infiltrated into the democratic movement by the security services (p. xxiii). 52. Litvinenko, Blowing Up Russia. 53. Litvinenko, Blowing Up Russia, 8. 54. For details, see Grau and Jorgensen Grau, Lester W. and Jorgensen, William A. 2002. Viral Hepatitis and the Russian War in Chechnya, Center for Army Lessons Learned, Fort Leavenworth: Foreign Military Studies Office Center for Army Lessons Learned, 1998 Ithaca: McGill Queens University Press and Ithaca. [Google Scholar], Viral Hepatitis and the Russian War in Chechnya. 55. Cohen Cohen, Ariel. 19 November 2007. Domestic Factors Driving Russian Foreign Policy. The Heritage Foundation Backgrounder, [Google Scholar], 'Domestic Factors Driving Russian Foreign Policy'. 56. For details on Dugin's life and thought, see Ingram Ingram, Alan. 'Alexander Dugin: geopolitics and neo-fascism in post-Soviet Russia'. Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, 2002, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science . [Google Scholar], Alexander Dugin: Geopolitics and Neofascism in Post-Soviet Russia. 57. Olga Koulieri Koulieri, Olga. 'Russian "Eurasianism" & the Geopolitics of the Black Sea'. Unpublished paper, no date. [Google Scholar], 'Russian "Eurasianism" & the Geopolitics of the Black Sea'. 58. See Clark Clark, Bruce. 1995. An Empire's New Clothes: The End of Russia's Liberal Dream, London: Vintage. [Google Scholar], An Empire's New Clothes, 273–4. 59. See Clark Clark, Bruce. 1995. An Empire's New Clothes: The End of Russia's Liberal Dream, London: Vintage. [Google Scholar], An Empire's New Clothes, 286. 60. Trenin Trenin, Dimitri. 2002. The End of Eurasia: Russia on the Border Between Geopolitics and Globalization, Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. [Google Scholar], The End of Eurasia. See also Shevtsova, Russia Lost in Transition. 61. Sakwa Sakwa, Richard. 2004. Putin: Russia's Choice, London and New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar], Putin: Russia's Choice, 228–9. 62. Kissinger Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. New York: Touchstone, 1995. [Google Scholar], Diplomacy, 814.