Russia and the West: Partnership or Confrontation?

摘要

When I began to study international relations twenty years ago, almost all my lecturers were convinced we had been living in the era of the 'last man' - a period marked by the end of a geopolitical struggle. The spectre of a global war - even a regional European one - seemed completely impossible to the general public. A long and bloody war in Europe was simply unimaginable. Today, Europe faces multiple critical challenges - the optimism is gone, and Europe's leaders are devoid of vision and courage, preferring appeasement to containment of threats. While the West has been trying to forge a partnership with Moscow, the Kremlin has pursued an anti-Western narrative for years. Ultimately, that has borne fruit. According to the Moscow-based Levada Center, 82% of Russian citizens believe that Russia has enemies. For 70% of them, it is the United States - as recently as 2011, only 33% held such an opinion. Anti-Western propaganda is necessary to legitimise specific actions and it is no challenge, today, to find examples of Russia's aggressive approach. This invariably includes Ukraine, which has been living under the threat of direct invasion. In April 2012, Russia mobilised more than 110,000 troops along its border with Ukraine - the Kremlin's main goal was to intimidate its neighbours. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is on record as saying that the relationship with Russia "has deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years."