European Identities And Foreign Policy Discourses On Russia

This book examines the relationship between national identity construction and current foreign policy discourses on Russia in selected European Union member states in 2014–2018. It shows that divergent national discourses on Russia derive from the different ways in which the country was constructed in national identity. The book develops an interpretive theoretical framework and argues that policy makers’ agency can profoundly influence the contestation between different identity narratives. It includes case studies in policy areas that are of primary importance for EU–Russia relations, such as energy security (the Nord Stream 2 controversy), the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s military intervention in Syria. Focusing on EU member states that have traditionally taken different stances vis-à-vis Russia (Germany, Poland and Finland), it shows that at the peak of the Ukraine crisis national discourses converged towards a pragmatic, but critical narrative. As the Ukraine crisis subsided and new events took centre stage in foreign policy discussions (i.e. the Syrian civil war, international terrorism), long-standing and identity-based divergences partly re-emerged in the discourses of policy makers. This became particularly evident during the Nord Stream 2 controversy. Deep-rooted and different perceptions of the Russian Other in EU member states are still influential and lead to divergent national agendas for foreign policy towards Russia. This book will be of interest to students and scholars working in European and EU politics, Russian and Soviet politics, and International Relations.

The book examines the relationship between national identity and foreign policy discourses on Russia in Germany, Poland and Finland in the years 2005-2015. The case studies focus on the Nord Stream pipeline controversy, the 2008 Russian-Georgian war, the post-electoral protests in Russian cities in 2011-2012 and the Ukraine crisis. The book argues that divergent foreign policy narratives of Russia are rooted in different national identity constructions. Most significantly, the Ukraine crisis and the Nord Stream controversy have exposed how deep-rooted and different perceptions of the Russian Other in EU member states are still influential and lead to conflicting national agendas for foreign policy towards Russia.

This book maps changing definitions of statehood in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus as a result of their exclusion from an expanding Europe. The authors examine the perceptions of the place of each state in the international political system and its foreign policy choices, and draw comparisons across the region.

This timely book offers a multifaceted analysis of EU-Russian relations, drawing on the investigation of competing models of international society. Makarychev argues that the huge variety of interest-based and normative models is best explained through the study of foreign policy and identity discourses. His approach defies simplistic explanations of EU-Russian relations as either destined for cooperation or doomed to constant collisions. Instead, Makarychev unveils multiple alternatives that both the EU and Russia face in their policies toward each other. Assessing the repercussions ongoing EU-Russian discord has on Europe and the world, Makarychev's volume reveals the interconnectedness of the discourses dominating the EU and Russia while also accounting for the deep-seated disconnect between them.

Baltic-Russian relations have been complicated and tense since the collapse of the USSR and the restoration of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian independence. Although Baltic accession to the European Union (EU) has created a new international context for interstate relations in the region, enlargement did not bring about the much hoped for improvement in Baltic-Russian relations. This case-study-rich volume examines links between identity, memory politics and foreign policy. It analyzes and explains developments in Baltic-Russian relations after both NATO and EU enlargement, focusing on the incompatibility of Baltic and Russian post-Soviet national identity constructions and the manifestations of this underlying antagonism in bilateral relations and on the broader European and international arena. Built on the constructivist perspective in international relations, this volume provides a coherent and illuminating account of the dynamics of Baltic-Russian relations after NATO and EU enlargement. Combining policy-relevant analysis with theoretical insights, it will meet the needs of academics and students of foreign policy, EU external relations and international relations more generally.

In the wake of the Cold War, European identities are up for grabs. Identity formation is an integral and tangible aspect of contemporary European politics. Drawing on an array of approaches, the author investigates empirically how six national, regional and all-European identities involve the exclusion of the East. The focus is on how identities are being renegotiated in practice. The readings of how Europe is constituted by its discourse on Turkey and Russia respectively argue that European identity of marked by these exclusions. The exclusions are part of the preconditions for action which are undertaken in political forums where European identity is seen as relevant, such as the debates about NATO and EU enlargement. Readings of regional discourses constituting repectively Northern and Central Europe argue that the politics of these regions serve to exclude those living further East. The two readings of Bashkir and Russian discourse demonstrate how the self/other nexus may be used as a springboard for analyzing national identities. The conclusion addresses the question of how far our present theoretical approaches may take us.

Bringing together leading scholars from Russia and outside experts on Russia, this book looks at the difference between the image Russia has of itself and the way it is viewed in the West. It discusses the historical, cultural and political foundations that these images are built upon, and goes on to analyse how contested these images are, and their impact on Russian identity. The book questions whether differing images explain fractiousness in Western-Russian relations in the new century, or whether distinct 'imaginary solitudes' offer a better platform from which to negotiate differences. Providing an innovative comparative study of contemporary images of the country and their impact, the book is a significant contribution to studies of globalisation and international relations.

This book provides an up-to-date discussion of the effect of crises on European identities in the post-Soviet states. In doing so, the book presents an original study on dynamics of European identities during four crises in Georgia and Ukraine. More specifically, it considers the comparative impact of two colour revolutions and wars involving Russia on European identity constructions in Georgian and Ukrainian public identity discourses, studied through national mass media. It compares outcomes of change and continuity during such “big bang” events in identity discourses and establishes scope conditions that allow or inhibit change. The major finding of the study is that the selected events can indeed instigate sudden shifts in European identity discourses but only when the elite power structure also changes in such hybrid regimes, as Ukraine and Georgia. These changes include shifts in elite groups and in the relative power they hold in the overall power structure.