Russian Strategic Culture and Multipolarity

• In Event: Russia's Domestic Traits and Foreign Policy

Abstract

Using Johnston's strategic culture construct, this paper assesses Russian strategic culture and how it affects contemporary Russian foreign policy. The Russian drive to multipolarity underscores the essential Russian strategic culture narrative that Russia should emphasize non-dependence in foreign policy. Russian Federation elites as well as Russian mass opinion presently view the United States and its security policy as a threat, a view strongly affected by their strategic culture. Russia perceives NATO enlargement, the Ballistic Missile Defense initiative, Donbas/Crimea sanctions, as well as many other US policy positions as a threat against Russia and its people. Since the early days of his first presidency, Vladimir Putin has attempted to destabilize and transform the international order from a system predicated on rules and norms that resolve conflict to a system ordered along what Russian policy makers call "polycentrism” or what international relations theory commonly understands as multipolarity. Rather than accept western conceptions of international hierarchy this paper argues that Russia is attempting to reconfigure the international balance of power to a multipolar system, the likes that hasn’t been seen since the 19th Century. Acceptance of western institutions would maintain what President Putin calls "the unipolar system," or the American led liberal regime based international order. Recent Russian foreign policy actions make clear that Russia rejects the rule-based hierarchical international order predicated on the role of institutions to resolve disputes in favor of international interactions that maximizes the “sovereignty” of the major powers over their zones of influence; a system that rewards short-term political power accumulation rather than long-term stability. In the face of this clear Russian strategic direction, the United States can either continue the leadership that has stabilized military and economic security for a “weak multipolar ” system, or allow a reconfiguration of major state power for a “strong multipolar” system where the US, Russia, China, and some combination of European and other BRICS states bring about a new pattern of international relations typified by constantly changing temporary alliances designed to balance any aggressor state seeking to change the new status quo defined in terms of power alone. T

Author

• David H. Sacko, U.S. Air Force Academy