No. 148: Foreign policy and Ideology

This edition examines the relationship between foreign policy and ideology in Putin’s Russia. Firstly, Philipp Casula considers Russia’s recent policy towards Crimea in terms of two political concepts that have traditionally been at the heart of Russian foreign policy thinking (reason of state & sovereignty) and one that has become more significant in recent years (biopolitics) centred on Russia’s responsibility for compatriots living abroad. He concludes that Russia has now given up on the idea of becoming part of the West, and is now focussed on Russian compatriots in the former USSR. Secondly, Bo Petersson outlines a paradox at the heart of contemporary Russian politics: whereas Putin’s personal popularity ratings remain high, the main institutions of the system, including the presidency, are seen as lacking legitimacy. He posits that the annexation of Crimea has served to revitalise Putin’s popularity, but the long-term impact of his policy in Ukraine is not yet clear. Thirdly, Jens Siegert notes how, since returning to the Kremlin, Putin has moved away from the informal 'social contract' of the 2000s and towards a neo-ideology centred on a crude mixture of a sense of threat from and resentment towards the foreign and the human, neo-religious bigotry and an anti-Western and anti-modernizing geopolitical world view. He suggests this neo-ideology may secure the regime a few additional years in power, but that, in the long-run, it will likely lead the country into decline. Finally, there are a range of Russian public opinion polls on Putin’s leadership, Russia’s place in the world, the annexation of Crimea and the on-going Ukraine crisis.