Exploring Russia’s Exceptionalism in International Politics


Book Description

This book explores Russia’s sense of its own uniqueness and the impact this has had on Russia’s conduct of international relations. Examining concepts such as Russia’s special civilising mission, its difference from the West, its proneness to conduct violent warfare, and more, and discussing these concepts in relation to Russia’s history and its present behaviour, and also in relation to other countries’ views of themselves as exceptional, the book highlights Russia’s sense of its own identity as a key factor shaping current international events.




Exploring Russia's Exceptionalism in International Politics


Book Description

This book explores Russia's sense of its own uniqueness and the impact this has had on Russia's conduct of international relations. Examining concepts such as Russia's special civilising mission, its difference from the West, its proneness to conduct violent warfare, and more, and discussing these concepts in relation to Russia's history and its present behaviour, and also in relation to other countries' views of themselves as exceptional, the book highlights Russia's sense of its own identity as a key factor shaping current international events.




Russian Exceptionalism between East and West


Book Description

This monograph provides a novel long-term approach to the role of Russia’s imperial legacies in its interactions with the former Soviet space. It develops ‘Hybrid Exceptionalism’ as a critical conceptual tool aimed at uncovering the great power’s self-positioning between ‘East’ and ‘West’, and its hierarchical claims over subalterns situated in both civilizational imaginaries. It explores how, in the Tsarist, Soviet, and contemporary eras, distinct civilizational spaces were created, and maintained, through narratives and practices emanating from Russia’s ambiguous relationship with Western modernity, and its part-identification with a subordinated ‘Orient’. The Romanov Empire’s struggles with ‘Russianness’, the USSR’s Marxism-Leninism, and contemporary Russia’s combination of feigned liberal and civilizational discourses are explored as the basis of a series of successive civilising missions, through an interdisciplinary engagement with official discourses, scholarship, and the arts. The book concludes with an exploration of contemporary policy implications for the West, and the former Soviet states themselves.




Russia and the World


Book Description

This book analyzes Russia and its effects on the international system in order to better understand Russia's place in world politics. Contributions explore Russian foreign policy, the economy and statecraft, the Arctic, arms control, national security, the environment, soft power, and Russian relations with the United States, Europe, and Eurasia.




A New Foreign Policy


Book Description

In this sobering analysis of American foreign policy under Trump, the award-winning economist calls for a new approach to international engagement. The American Century began in 1941 and ended in 2017, on the day of President Trump’s inauguration. The subsequent turn toward nationalism and “America first” unilateralism did not made America great. It announced the abdication of our responsibilities in the face of environmental crises, political upheaval, mass migration, and other global challenges. As a result, America no longer dominates geopolitics or the world economy as it once did. In this incisive and passionate book, Jeffrey D. Sachs provides the blueprint for a new foreign policy that embraces global cooperation, international law, and aspirations for worldwide prosperity. He argues that America’s approach to the world must shift from military might and wars of choice to a commitment to shared objectives of sustainable development. A New Foreign Policy explores both the danger of the “America first” mindset and the possibilities for a new way forward, proposing timely and achievable plans to foster global economic growth, reconfigure the United Nations for the twenty-first century, and build a multipolar world that is prosperous, peaceful, fair, and resilient.




Russia


Book Description

No nation is a stranger to war, but for Russians war is a central part of who they are. Their “motherland” has been the battlefield where some of the largest armies have clashed, the most savage battles have been fought, the highest death tolls paid. Having prevailed over Mongol hordes and vanquished Napoleon and Hitler, many Russians believe no other nation has sacrificed so much for the world. In Russia: The Story of War Gregory Carleton explores how this belief has produced a myth of exceptionalism that pervades Russian culture and politics and has helped forge a national identity rooted in war. While outsiders view Russia as an aggressor, Russians themselves see a country surrounded by enemies, poised in a permanent defensive crouch as it fights one invader after another. Time and again, history has called upon Russia to play the savior—of Europe, of Christianity, of civilization itself—and its victories, especially over the Nazis in World War II, have come at immense cost. In this telling, even defeats lose their sting. Isolation becomes a virtuous destiny and the whole of its bloody history a point of pride. War is the unifying thread of Russia’s national epic, one that transcends its wrenching ideological transformations from the archconservative empire to the radical-totalitarian Soviet Union to the resurgent nationalism of the country today. As Putin’s Russia asserts itself in ever bolder ways, knowing how the story of its war-torn past shapes the present is essential to understanding its self-image and worldview.




Russia in the Changing International System


Book Description

This volume seeks to explore Russia’s perceptions of the changing international system in the twenty-first century and evaluate the determinants of Russian motives, roles and strategies towards a number of contemporary regional and global issues. The chapters of the volume discuss various aspects of Russian foreign policy with regard to key actors like the U.S., EU and China; international organizations such as the BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Eurasian Economic Union and Collective Security Treaty Organization; and a number of regional conflicts including Ukraine and Syria. The contributors seek to understand how the discourses of “anti-Westernism” and “post-Westernism” are employed in the redefinition of Russia’s relations with the other actors of the international system and how Russia perceives the concept of “regional hegemony,” particularly in the former Soviet space and the Middle East.




American Exceptionalism


Book Description

Donald J. Putin on American Exceptionalism is THE book the government does not want you to read! If the government actually cared what you read, of course. Twitter phenomenon (and Brooklyn's own) Donald J. Putin brings you a satiric (or is it?) composite of the collective knowledge of the current American and Russian presidents (who may, or may not, actually be two people) in a sprawling manifesto that dives right into the issues facing Americans, and answers many of the questions that you have been staring at the ceiling pondering at 3:00 a.m.● Why are Americans so depressed all the time? (And if you aren't depressed, there is probably something wrong with you, because you should be.)● Should we be looking for a new place to live? (Does anyone on the planet still like us enough to let us in? And can we get health care there?)● If our food sucks so badly, why is it making us so damned fat?● How come I haven't had a vacation in so long?Donald J. Putin takes you on a cradle to grave roller coaster ride (mostly downhill, actually) establishing the historical and doctrinal basis for American Exceptionalism and diagnosing just what is wrong with the USA (with annotated footnotes and everything, so you know he is serious.) Hop on for the thrill ride as Donald J. Putin explores in-depth the uniquely American realities and myths created by the one-sided power schism Americans enjoy in everything from sports and entertainment to sex, food, guns, mass incarceration, what passes for health care, the legal system, suburbia, energy use, and pretty much wherever the hell DJP wants to take you! And wait, there's more! You need to buy this to unlock the secrets you need to survive and thrive in today's America. Discover your best life and join our community of those rare few who understand American Exceptionalism and why the only escape is just to escape. Hurry and get this remarkable manifesto before the American empire collapses and this ceases to make any sense at all. Donald J. Putin lives in Brooklyn, NY. His interests include vodka, global domination and chronicling the end-stages of the American empire.




Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations


Book Description

Winner, 2023 Joseph Fletcher Prize for Best Edited Book in Historical International Relations, History Section, International Studies Association Ideology drives American foreign policy in ways seen and unseen. Racialized notions of subjecthood and civilization underlay the political revolution of eighteenth-century white colonizers; neoconservatism, neoliberalism, and unilateralism propelled the post–Cold War United States to unleash catastrophe in the Middle East. Ideologies order and explain the world, project the illusion of controllable outcomes, and often explain success and failure. How does the history of U.S. foreign relations appear differently when viewed through the lens of ideology? This book explores the ideological landscape of international relations from the colonial era to the present. Contributors examine ideologies developed to justify—or resist—white settler colonialism and free-trade imperialism, and they discuss the role of nationalism in immigration policy. The book reveals new insights on the role of ideas at the intersection of U.S. foreign and domestic policy and politics. It shows how the ideals coded as “civilization,” “freedom,” and “democracy” legitimized U.S. military interventions and enabled foreign leaders to turn American power to their benefit. The book traces the ideological struggle over competing visions of democracy and of American democracy’s place in the world and in history. It highlights sources beyond the realm of traditional diplomatic history, including nonstate actors and historically marginalized voices. Featuring the foremost specialists as well as rising stars, this book offers a foundational statement on the intellectual history of U.S. foreign policy.




American Exceptionalism


Book Description

Is America unique? One of our major political analysts explores the deeply held but often unarticulated beliefs that shape the American creed. "(A) magisterial attempt to distill a lifetime of learning about America into a persuasive brief . . . (by) the dean of American political sociologists".--Carlin Romano, "Boston Globe".