When Status Becomes an Idée Fixe
Is Russia Condemned to Be a Great Power?
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Russia’s political elite invokes the country’s great power status as a mantra. Russia, it is said, still has a right to play such a role in global politics, just like the Soviet Union and the tsarist empire. However, Russia’s foreign policy shows that Moscow is less concerned with an actual increase in power than with the recognition of the social status that comes with being a great power. Russia wants to be involved, consulted, accepted the way it sees itself, and respected. However, its policy is void of content and hardly constructive.
(Osteuropa 8/2013, pp. 45–58)