Russian foreign policy identity and the war in Ukraine

Abstract

Current Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine raised concerns about Russia's aggressive behavior that poses a serious threat to international security, as it is the largest war in a European continent since World War II (BBC, 2022a; Psaropoulos, 2022; The Guardian, 2022). Russia rejects to stop its hostile and brutal foreign policy, and as a result, faces economic, political, and social isolation from the world (Psaropoulos, 2022; Bown, 2022; Ria Novosti, 2022). This dissertation explores 1) how Russian foreign policy identity is revealed in the discourse surrounding the war in Ukraine and 2) to what extent the war in Ukraine demonstrates long-term identity patterns of Russian foreign policy. In terms of a theoretical contribution, this dissertation explores Russian foreign policy identity from the perspective of constructivism and a theory of strategic culture (Adler, 2013; Antczak, 2018; Berger, 1966; Hopf 1998; Kanet, 2022; Snyder, 1977; Wendt, 1992). The question of Russian foreign policy identity will be addressed through the qualitative case study analysis of the war in Ukraine and thematic discourse analysis (Dijk, 2009; Paltridge, 2012; Paul, 2009; Priya, 2020; Yin, 2009). The dissertation argues that Russian foreign policy identity analyzed through the discourse of RIA Novosti...