CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Dubinsky, Andrey |
|---|---|
| Title | Saving the Self: Post-Soviet Russia's Search for Ontological Security |
| Summary | When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia became embroiled in turmoil. Its economy crashed, and Russians‟ dreams of becoming a normal, Western country did not come to fruition. In the international arena, initially, Russia strove for cooperation with the West, yet as its attempts to integrate within the Western liberal world order failed, it resumed perceiving the West as a threat. Under Putin, Russia resumed cooperation with the West in order to restore its great power status and improve its economy. When it was important for its interests, it continued, however, to balance against the West. Yet some of its actions balancing the West have undermined its soft power without bringing material benefits, thus appearing irrational. Mainstream theories are able to explain certain aspects of Russian foreign policy, yet their analysis is sometimes incomplete. This thesis aims to explain Russia‟s behavior as a response to ontological security and identity needs of its domestic society, which seeks to restore a coherent historical narrative of itself. It argues that to understand the shift, it is important to consider the experiences of the Russian people and the socialization of its elites. This thesis seeks to add to existing scholarship by Anthony Giddens, Ayse Zarakol, Jennifer Mitzen, and Brent Steele, among others, on ontological security by examining Russian domestic society and Russia‟s foreign policy during the transition. To explore views of the West in Russia‟s domestic society, it introduces an interdisciplinary approach and seeks insights on Russian publics by analyzing Russian films of the era. |
| Supervisor | Xymena Kurowska |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/dubinsky_andrey.pdf |
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