scholarly journals Dangerous dyads in the post-Soviet space: explaining Russia's military escalation decisions, 1992–2010

Author(s):  
Paolo Rosa ◽  
Adriana Cuppuleri

Abstract This paper analyses the military behaviour of Russia from 1992 to 2010. The method used is a combination of the dyad analysis introduced by Stuart Bremer in 1992 and the analysis of unit-level variables, which is distinctive of foreign policy analysis. We empirically test a set of hypotheses about the determinants of Russia's military behaviour in the post-Cold War period by considering the impact of changes of international variables – relative power, the presence of military alliance pacts, the territorial salience of the dispute – and state-level variables – the degree of democracy/autocracy and regime vulnerability. A bivariate and a multivariate analysis are carried out to explain the separate and joint impacts of independent variables.

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-160
Author(s):  
D. V. GORDIENKO ◽  

The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of the military component of the Russian Federation policy in the strategic triangle Russia – China – USA on its current Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, in Asia- Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, the Arctic, the middle East and in other regions of the world. An approach to the comparative assessment of this influence is proposed, which allows us to identify the priorities of Russia's policy in this area.


2020 ◽  
pp. 0095327X2096819
Author(s):  
Timothy J. A. Passmore

What explains the post–Cold War surge in peacekeeping contributions from the developing world? I argue that, amid a wave of democratization and expanded peacekeeping activity, such countries use peacekeeping deployments to reduce the threat of the military to nascent democratic institutions. Peacekeeping participation serves to placate the military in the short term with resources and continued activity, while socializing and professionalizing it to pro-democracy behaviors in the long term. Assessing troop contributions from 1990 to 2011, I find evidence that new democracies make larger contributions than other states, where the effect diminishes as democracy becomes consolidated. Moreover, the effect is amplified in countries with a greater military legacy. I supplement this with a study of Argentina to further support the proposed mechanism. These findings help explain the shift in state peacekeeping contributions in recent years, the role of democracy in peacekeeping efforts, and the impact of international actors in supporting democratization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-173
Author(s):  
David Alenga

This paper presents a critique of the European Union’s flagship Eastern Partnership Initiative (EaP) within the context of its geopolitical ramifications on the political crisis in Ukraine. It particularly highlights the role of the Russian Federation as the principal protagonists and its quest to counter the EU’s normative power within their shared neighborhood. The EaP has among its goals promoting a broad range of political and economic reforms with the partner states with the view to help them deepen liberal democratic values and enhanced security and stability within the framework of an enhanced Association Agreement. The Kremlin believes the EaP undermines Russian interest in the region. This paper therefore presents a critical analysis of the contending dynamics of the competing efforts to use Ukraine as the launching pad to reshape the post-Cold War regional order.


1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-106
Author(s):  
M. A. Muqtedar Khan

This paper seeks to understand the impact of current global politicaland socioeconomic conditions on the construction of identity. I advancean argument based on a two-step logic. First, I challenge the characterizationof current socioeconomic conditions as one of globalization bymarshaling arguments and evidence that strongly suggest that along withglobalization, there are simultaneous processes of localization proliferatingin the world today. I contend that current conditions are indicative ofthings far exceeding the scope of globalization and that they can bedescribed more accurately as ccglocalization.~H’2a ving established thisclaim, I show how the processes of glocalization affect the constructionof Muslim identity.Why do I explore the relationship between glocalization and identityconstruction? Because it is significant. Those conversant with current theoreticaldebates within the discipline of international relations’ are awarethat identity has emerged as a significant explanatory construct in internationalrelations theory in the post-Cold War era.4 In this article, I discussthe emergence of identity as an important concept in world politics.The contemporary field of international relations is defined by threephilosophically distinct research programs? rationalists: constructivists,’and interpretivists.’ The moot issue is essentially a search for the mostimportant variable that can help explain or understand the behavior ofinternational actors and subsequently explain the nature of world politicsin order to minimize war and maximize peace.Rationalists contend that actors are basically rational actors who seekthe maximization of their interests, interests being understood primarilyin material terms and often calculated by utility functions maximizinggiven preferences? Interpretivists include postmodernists, critical theorists,and feminists, all of whom argue that basically the extant worldpolitical praxis or discourses “constitute” international agents and therebydetermine their actions, even as they reproduce world politics by ...


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
pp. 80-95
Author(s):  
D. V. GORDIENKO ◽  

The military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the "strategic triangle" Russia-China-USA occupies an important place in the implementation of Russian aspirations in various regions of the world. The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of the military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the Russia-China- US strategic triangle on the implementation of current Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, in the Asia-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, in the Arctic, the Middle East and other regions of the world. The paper examines the influence of the military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the Russia- China-USA “strategic triangle”, proposes an approach to a comparative assessment of this influence, which allows identifying the priorities of Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, in the Asia-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, in the Arctic, on The Middle East and other regions of the world. A comparative assessment of the influence of the military component of the Russian Federation's policy in the Russia-China-USA “strategic triangle” can be used to substantiate recommendations to the military-political leadership of our country. The article concludes that the military component of Russian policy occupies a dominant position in the implementation of the current policy of the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet space, in the Asia- Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, in the Arctic, the Middle East and in other regions of the world.


1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Donald S. Rothchild

The Clinton administration and its predecessors have had a difficult time assessing the impact of ethnicity and nationalism on international conflict. They are inclined to focus on state power and individual rights considerations, downplaying the importance of the ties of communal identity and the emotive appeals of ethnic self-determination. Then, when ethnic groups do gain political significance, U.S. officials often give the communal concerns a prominence out of proportion with reality. The primary challenge for the Clinton administration is that U.S. liberalism classically has involved commitments that preclude flexibility on communally based demands for self-determination and group rights. Such perspectives can at times complicate the formulation of effective foreign policies for a region only partially integrated into the global capitalist economy, and therefore autonomous for some purposes from U.S. manipulation. What is needed is an involved but pragmatic liberalism that links U.S. conflict management objectives with what Thomas Friedman describes as a “coherent post–Cold War strategic framework.” Without that framework, he writes, “the Americans look like naive do-gooders trying to break up a street brawl.”


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 639-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Brigevich

The rise of “new regionalism” is one of the most salient features of the post-Cold War international order. Despite the resurgence of regionalism in Europe, little consensus exists on how regional identity impacts public opinion toward the European Union. To remedy this problem, this study examines the impact of three types of individual-level regional identity on support for integration: parochialism (exclusive regionalism), inclusive regionalism, and pseudo-exclusive regionalism. Contrary to scholarly expectations, the multilevel analysis reveals that inclusive regionalists are as equally Eurosceptic as parochial regionalists. In general, regional identity depresses support for integration unless it is expressly combined with a supranational identity. This finding holds true even in minority nations, where respondents are, on the whole, less Euro-friendly.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002234332090562
Author(s):  
Jamie Levin ◽  
Joseph MacKay ◽  
Anne Spencer Jamison ◽  
Abouzar Nasirzadeh ◽  
Anthony Sealey

While peacekeeping’s effects on receiving states have been studied at length, its effects on sending states have only begun to be explored. This article examines the effects of contributing peacekeepers abroad on democracy at home. Recent qualitative research has divergent findings: some find peacekeeping contributes to democratization among sending states, while others find peacekeeping entrenches illiberal or autocratic rule. To adjudicate, we build on recent quantitative work focused specifically on the incidence of coups. We ask whether sending peacekeepers abroad increases the risk of military intervention in politics at home. Drawing on selectorate theory, we expect the effect of peacekeeping on coup risk to vary by regime type. Peacekeeping brings with it new resources which can be distributed as private goods. In autocracies, often developing states where UN peacekeeping remuneration exceeds per-soldier costs, deployment produces a windfall for militaries. Emboldened by new resources, which can be distributed as private goods among the selectorate, and fearing the loss of them in the future, they may act to depose the incumbent regime. In contrast, peacekeeping will have little effect in developed democracies, which have high per-troop costs, comparatively large selectorates, and low ex-ante coup risk. Anocracies, which typically have growing selectorates, and may face distinctive international pressures to democratize, will likely experience reduced coup risk. We test these claims with data covering peacekeeping deployments, regime type, and coup risk since the end of the Cold War. Our findings confirm our theoretical expectations. These findings have implications both for how we understand the impact of participation in peacekeeping – particularly among those countries that contribute troops disproportionately in the post-Cold War era – and for the potential international determinants of domestic autocracy.


Author(s):  
de Wet Erika

This contribution discusses the Gulf War of 1991-1991. It sets out the facts and context of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, followed by the adoption of United Nation Security Council Resolution 678 (1990) and the subsequent military reaction by the United States-led international coalition. It assesses the reaction of the main protagonists and that of the broader international community to these events. In doing so, it also assesses the legal basis of the military response by the international coalition of the ‘willing and able’ against Iraq. It determines whether it was based on Article 42 of the United Nations Charter, or collective self-defence in terms of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The final section examines if and to what extent this case has had an impact on (the legal basis) of military measures taken in the interest of collective security in the post-Cold War era.


Author(s):  
Andrea Grove

There are several conceptions of culture which have become dominant in foreign policy analysis (FPA) in particular: culture as the organization of meaning, culture as value preferences, and culture as templates for human strategy. Prior to the 1990s, the Cold War constraints of bipolarity had left little room for idiosyncratic domestic-level variables such as culture to affect FP. However, once systemic constraints lessened and the decision making milieu became more ambiguous, scholars increasingly turned to questions about culture and identity. Using classic frameworks as a jumping off point, early work on national role conception and operational code analysis incorporated culture as a significant filter for decision making. Operational code analysis is another early approach that had elements of culture as part of the decision making context. In addition, there are a few works that investigate culture and FP with a different focus than FPA. But perhaps one of the most notable elements of FPA studies exploring culture is the idea that it need not be viewed as explaining whatever cannot be explained by anything else. Instead of merely an alternative theoretical explanation of state behavior, use of culture in the post-Cold War revival and today reflects an effort not so much to refute neorealism but to look at different questions.


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