From Ideology to Geopolitics. Russia's Relations With the United States in the Post Cold War Era

8/8/2019 From Ideology to Geopolitics. Russia's Relations With the United States in the Post Cold War Era

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STRATEGIC IMPACT No. 4/200878

ANALYSIS. SYNTHESIS. EVALUATIONS

Zoe PETRE, Strelna 2006

Conventional Force Treaty was meant to balance the

Secolul XX

40 Ibidem, p. 4.Ibidem, p. 4.41

42 Andrew JACK,Andrew JACK, op. cit. Filon MORAR,Filon MORAR,

(I)44 This part is based on the analyses that I developedThis part is based on the analyses that I developed

in the article 1989

45

Svante E. SOCOR, Geostrategic

Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI, ..,

p. 141.

Resursele energetice ,

48

50

de securitate

51 Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI, A plan for Europe, in

Taking sides. Clashing viewson controversial issues in world politics,

52

p. 110. Michel E. BROWN,Michel E. BROWN,

expansion, in John T. ROURKE, op. cit.54 Gilbert ACHCAR,Gilbert ACHCAR,

55 op. cit.Ibidem, pp. 110-111. Gilbert ACHCAR,Gilbert ACHCAR, op. cit58 Pierre LORRAIN,Pierre LORRAIN, op. cit., p. 12 ,

See

Stanislav SECRIERU,de ciclu? Simona SOARE,Simona SOARE, Parteneriatul NATO-Rusia.

op. cit.

Convorbiricu Vladimir Putin2000, p. 154.

[email protected]) is a teaching assistant within the Faculty ofis a teaching assistant within the Faculty ofteaching assistant within the Faculty of

His main interest areas are: International Relations, Geopolitics, Political History.


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STRATEGIC IMPACT No. 4/2008 77


overcome the present state of events coming from

forget that it is not the Soviet Union, even if

it demands to be treated in that manner. In the

NOTES:

1 Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,

geostrategice

2 Geopolitica

Pierre LORRAIN,Pierre LORRAIN, Statele Unite

4 18th

5 Ibidem, pp. 20-21.Ibidem, pp. 20-21. 8

with Chechnya also for political and propagandistic

Musulmaniiceceni sau necesitatea inamicului intern, in Revista de

criza superputerii americane

10 Chechnya, oil and terrorism

(economic aspects),

11 Pierre LORRAIN,Pierre LORRAIN, op. cit., p. 21.12 Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI, A

domina sau a conduce 101.

Ibidem, p. 281.Ibidem, p. 281.14 Ibidem, pp. 40-41. In 2005, the military baseIbidem, pp. 40-41. In 2005, the military baseIn 2005, the military base

between the former protagonists of the Cold War.

15 members of this organism having conservative, anti-

American orientations.

op.

cit., p. 41. 18 Andrew JACK,Andrew JACK, Rusia lui Putin. Toamna

oligarhilor Nicolae FILIPESCU, Nicolae FILIPESCU,

Rusia20

to obtain a higher economical and political control

a geopolitical lack of balance at a global level, which

Pacea Rece. Noulimperialism al Rusiei

21Nicolae FILIPESCU,Nicolae FILIPESCU, ,

22 Istoria Kremlinuluide la Ivan cel Groaznic la Vladimir Putin

24 25 Andrew JACK,Andrew JACK, op. cit., p. 251. Ibidem, p. 251.Ibidem, p. 251.28

Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI, ..., p.

Russia and the return ofgeopolitics12.

Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI,Zbigniew BRZEZINSKI, ..., p.

Soviet space. Tatiana NICULESCU,Tatiana NICULESCU,Negocieri privind

, BBC Romanian.com, October 2005.

Andrew JACK,Andrew JACK, op. cit.

,

Filon MORAR,Filon MORAR,

(II). Revigorarea din epoca Putin


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reached alarming levels, Kremlin insistently

the Balkan Slavs, ever since they were part of the

Ottoman Empire. The second reason is a political

stirred the separatist movements in Chechnya and

campaign against terrorism, a new closenessarose, apparently more long-lasting, between

in matters of the North-Atlantic Alliance to the

concerning the propositions and elections NATO

have.58against terrorism, handling international crises, the

withdrawal from the Treaty on Conventional Armed

be perceived as a veiled attempt to coerce and

.On the other hand, the new body is challenged

and more internally fragmented partnership

risks becoming by de facto

start negotiations for the adherence not only with with Georgia and Ukraine bothered Kremlin

Georgia and Ukraine have been temporarily

and its main pillar, the US.

Besides the very position respective to this matter has been made

7. Conclusions

Moscow and Washington has not yet reached a

critical point. Its amelioration depends on the will,

diplomatic abilities and nevertheless the empathy


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mainly centred on military problems. Its main

democratic process from Central and Eastern

minority rights, which do not have any territorial

capacity to have them made compatible with those

of the Alliance.50

towards the East has held a central place on the

transatlantic partnership anchored in a central-

51

52

geopolitical aerial, giving way to a new arms race.

The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in

continent. or later, in a comeback of hostilities. Spreading

by the concern and resentments it generates in

Kremlin54.

not as rigid and tensed as they began to be after

a member of the North-Atlantic Alliance had been

55

The cooperation between the two parts has

Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation

and Security between NATO and the Russian

Federation.

received in that same year an adherence invitation,

.


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5. Hydrocarbon geopolitics

and Kremlins energetic arsenal 44

economic and geopolitical growth resides in its

Soviet area, there are also important hydrocarbon

45

According to the discoveries made in the early

point of view to those ones in the Middle East. The

as possible, their energetic independence. The

its monopole, Moscow has the has the advantage

being de facto

the chances of a partnership with the West are not

to be eliminated. Other states that are to be taken

A potential partnership regarding the gas trade

If the frictions between the US and the EU on

now, an essential partner to Moscow in Central

Asia. Likewise, India is an ascending power,

also growing. However, it is hard to believe that

relationship with China to the disadvantage of

from an economic point of view even for any

China and India. Also, the possibility that the

needed to satisfy the growing rate of demand.48

6. Post-Soviet Russia and the North-AtlanticAlliance: the prerequisites

of a new Cold War?

any attempt of the Soviet power to manifest an

transatlantic partnership has met its geopolitical

from the instabilities that derive from Central and


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neglected as a front-rank partner in solving the

the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in have represented the mostarchitect of the missile defence system, the former

of military missiles in Kaliningrad. Afterwards,

of the missile defence system in Poland and the

a new tensioning of the bilateral relations, which

the Kremlin made and a comparison of the present

40

American negotiations regarding the establishment

41

42

the potential threat represented by the political

regimes in North Korea and Iran. The contrast in

foreign policy between the former enemies in the

hydrocarbon deposits it possesses, in combination


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to Iraq also represented an important income and

, demographic and important role to play in the Middle East, as one

disaffection, avoiding boycotting the American

the UN still had in relation to the American giant. economic and politic terms with the late USSR,

within the UN.28

Nevertheless, the bilateral relations between

the two states had not yet reached a dramatic point.The common declaration over the new Russian-

American strategic relationship, whereby the

common interests and priorities were once again

stated.

with Washington, consisted of the mitigation

of the economic, demographic and ideological

ascension in world politics and economics. Having

However, a few years later, the strategic

4. The Russian offensive and the American

opinions and interests, of imperialism and of trying

the former Soviet area, and especially Central

Asia

meant a new worrying factor for the leaders at the

is placed by Andrew Jack two years earlier,

namely shortly before the terrorist attacks of

. Not to gain proportions.

The years that followed witness the downfall of

corresponds with the elimination, in the same year,

of American military bases from Central Asia.


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to maintain the petrol at a reasonable price, and

freeing the US by their strong dependence on the

1415, in order to yet againrepresent, dependent on American reciprocity,

operation will depend directly on the general

helped the former Cold War protagonists come

the German one, his option to boost the relationship

18 Theformer KGB agent regrets the disassembly of the

geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th, and

As we will try to demonstrate in this paper, this

desiderative represents the main driving force of

the 21st

3. The Second Gulf War and the dismantling

of the Russian-American alliance

Federation and the US, at the same time with a

represented by the impossibility of reaching an

agreement concerning the Iraqi problem and the

20 The relation between Washington and had been made respondent to accepting and

21,the difference between the American perception

22

in regard to the diplomatic efforts that had been

others, in the predictions some American analysts

proportion to the electoral motivations which have

24

a clean sweep and, by co-opting the nationalist

25


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time, showing a great presence of mind and real

2. The global campaign against terrorism

and the new geopolitical consonance between

the former protagonists of the Cold War

threat that the Islam poses on the former Soviet

of them still being tied to Moscow by defence

agreements, were the targets of some attacks

45

The wars in Chechnya have been another

Chechen territory, westward.

Moscow already held the geopolitical advantage

of controlling the access to the important energetic

Chechen territory. Instead, Chechnya had to

8

warfare re-engagement. The remembrance of the

point of view have led to this decision. Kremlin

the escalation of criminality and the political

10

The 2001 attacks against the US, as well as the

a little.11 enforcing its own position in relation to that one of

re-channel the traditional Middle Eastern hostility

12


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FROM IDEOLOGY TO GEOPOLITICS.

RUSSIAS RELATIONS WITHS RELATIONS WITHS RELATIONS WITH

THE UNITED STATESIN THE POST COLD WAR ERA

The implosion of the Soviet Union, after the

East European revolutions from 1989, announced

The Russian Federation, although weaken by

the tremendous ideological confrontation that

articulated international politics in the second half

of the last century, is eager to win back what itconsiders to be its rightful place on the international

relations stage. Crucially for achieving this goal is

the relation that Moscow cultivates with its former

enemy, the American superpower. The present

paper is trying to asses, focusing mainly on the

last decade, the major reference points of this

relationship.

Key-words: strategic cooperation, war against

terrorism, hydrocarbon geopolitics, security

disagreements, NATO expansion.

1. Post-imperial restructuring and hegemonic

opulence. Russian-American relations

at the beginning of the 21st century

In his well-known paper, The Grand

Chessboard: American Primacy and Its

Geostrategic Imperatives last decade of the 20threpresented as many remodelling attempts of

of its immediate geopolitical and geo-economic

perceived its relations with the West.

1tight collaboration with the US, in order to maintain

a bipolar world order and, at the same time, to attain

economic, social and administrative reformations

which came from an American initiative. Not

bearings towards controlling the former Soviet

Union area, trying to keep on its geopolitical

rediscovered, a theoretical orientation which arose

at the beginning of the 20th

2, as well as having the mission to be failed in this stage, too, having neither the political

Finally, the third stage is embodied by the

attempt of making a geopolitical triangle, which

nationalism, and by a more and more tightening

area. This third stage seemed to have reached


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From Ideology to Geopolitics. Russia's Relations With the United States in the Post Cold War Era

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