THE JUSTIFICATION STRATEGIES OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY SINCE 2014: A STUDY OF THE CASES OF CRIMEA JOINING RUSSIA AND RUSSIAN MILITARY OPERATION IN SYRIA
Keywords:
Syria, Crimea, Russian foreign policy, justification strategies, legitimation, V.V. Putin, Ministry of foreign affairs, international communicationAbstract
The trajectory of the Russian foreign policy changed in 2014 as Russia deviated from its foreign policy principles. A specific justification was needed in order to legitimize Russian foreign policy domestically and abroad. Russian officials provided such a justification. It was successful on the domestic level, but its effectiveness on the international level was questionable. This article undertakes an analysis of the justification strategies of Russian foreign policy after 2014, with a focus on those, which were used by Russian authorities in their justification of Crimea joining Russia and Russian actions in the Syrian Arab Republic. It is shown why the justification could be considered as strategic. Applying the instruments of the strategic narratives’ theory, the author reveals the main strategic narratives of Russian foreign policy officials. The article discovers that the main justification strategies were communicative defense, communicative attack, communicative counter-attack, and position declaration. The communicative position of the Russian Federation in the case of Crimean justification could be explained as initially difficult, but gaining a communicative position in the justification of Russian actions in Syria could positively support the justification of the Crimean case. DOI: 10.17072/2218-1067-2020-4-14-26References
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