Russia in Global Affairs

Strategic frivolity, that is, the ability to create risky situations for the sake of solving particular issues, is a characteristic sign of the confidence of states that a major conflict between them is either unrealistic or can be relatively easily settled by diplomatic methods. However, history shows that diplomacy and even direct communication at the highest level may not always work.

As America behaves, so Russia feels justified in pursuing like-minded behavior aligned to its own security interests, that the West has routinely rejected or simply ignored.

It is worth recalling that, back in May 2014, the Verkhovna Rada recognized the need to prioritize reconciliation. Adopted just five days before the presidential elections, had this policy actually been implemented, Ukraine’s subsequent history might have been very different.

Historical arguments are heavily used by both Ukraine and Russia in pursuing their political goals at the national and international levels. The current state of relations between the two countries predetermines further instrumental use and misuse of history for the purposes of propaganda and hybrid war.

Abstract Ukrainians and Belarusians used to match Anthony David Smith’s notion of a demotic ethnie, an ethnic group without the upper strata. For centuries both…

The establishment of independent Ukrainian and Belarusian statehood facilitates the development of Russia’s own national project, which is oriented towards the future, rather than towards the restoration of the past. Its key foreign policy feature is real sovereignty and the freedom of geopolitical maneuvering.

The most difficult decisions for a politician to make is where exactly to draw the red line separating the inevitable concessions and compromises from capitulation, treason and personal shame. In other words, the politician has to learn what can and cannot be the subject of political bargaining.

It could well be that the once stable, cooperative multilateral framework of the IMF, like many international institutions inspired and led by the advanced economies, has become afflicted by a democratic and growing call for voice and representation of other states and non-state actors.

A scenario similar to the Euromaidan protests may again take place and threaten to turn into an international crisis. It is in our common interest to stop making Ukraine a battlefield between Russia and the West, and encourage it to become a bridge between them.