The Four Pillars of Russia’s Power Narrative

Abstract

The Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and the annexation of Crimea were two major international events in which Russia engaged in early 2014. In spite of all the divergence in the logic underpinning each of them, four concepts strongly resonate in both cases. First, in hosting the Olympics and in appropriating Crimea, Russia was motivated by solidifying its sovereignty as the key concept in its foreign and domestic policies. Second, the scenarios for both Sochi and Crimea were grounded in the idea of strengthening Russia as a political community through mechanisms of domestic consolidation (Sochi) and opposition to unfriendly external forces (the crisis in Ukraine). Third, Sochi and Crimea unveiled two different facets of the logic of normalisation aimed at proving – albeit by different means – Russia’s great power status. Fourth, one of the major drivers of Russian policy in both cases were security concerns in Russia’s southern flanks, though domestic security was also an important part of the agenda.

Keywords:

• Russian foreign policy
• Sochi Olympics
• annexation of Crimea

Notes

¹ See, for example, Nygren, The Rebuilding of Greater Russia; Lucas, The New Cold War.

² J. Radvanyi, “Moscou entre jeux d’ínfluence et demonstration de force”, Le Monde Diplomatique, May 2014, http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2014/05/RADVANYI/50420.

³ M.A. McFaul, “Confronting Putin’s Russia”, New York Times, 24 March 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/opinion/confronting-putins-russia.html.

⁴ See, for example, Herd, “Security Strategy”.

⁵ S. Medvedev, “Epicheskaya Sila: Dlia Chego v Rossii Voskreshayut Geroicheskiy Mif?” [The Epic Force: Why Russia Revives Its Heroic Myth], Forbes, 16 April 2014, http://www.forbes.ru/mneniya-column/tsennosti/254795-epicheskaya-sila-dlya-chego-v-rossii-voskreshayut-geroicheskii-mif.

⁶ Petersson, “Still Embodying the Myth?”.

⁷ M. Berg, “Russkaya Kul’tura Kak Prigovor” [Russian Culture as a Verdict], Rufabula Web Portal, 14 April 2014, http://rufabula.com/articles/2014/04/14/russian-culture-as-adjudication.

⁸ J. Freedman, “Russia’s New Culture War”, The Moscow Times, 17 April 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/art_n_ideas/article/russias-new-culture-war/498278.html.

⁹ A. Stent, “At Sochi, a High Bar for Putin”, New York Times, 27 January 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/opinion/at-sochi-a-high-bar-for-putin.html?_r=2.

¹⁰ Markedonov, The 2014 Sochi Olympics, http://csis.org/publication/2014-sochi-olympics.

¹¹ A. Rahr, “Sochi 2014 and the Horizons of Global Politics”, Valdai Club Web Portal, 23 January 2014, http://valdaiclub.com/russia_and_the_world/66345.html.

¹² D. Moisi, “Avec les JO, Poutine Joue la Place de la Russie Dans le Monde”, Les Echos, 27 January 2014.

¹³ V. Putin, “Obraschenie Prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii” [Address of the President of the Russian Federation], Kremlin.ru Portal, 18 March 2014, http://www.kremlin.ru/transcripts/20603.

¹⁴ M. Snegovaya, “Kto My? Russkie v Poiske Natsii” [Who Are We? Russians in Search of the Nation], Vedomosti, 21 April 2014, http://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/news/25602951/russkie-v-poiskah-nacii?full#cut.

¹⁵ Y. Melamed, “Krym Kak Fil’m, Putin Kak Supergeroi” [Crimea as a Movie, Putin as a Super Hero], Gazeta.ru, 25 April 2014, http://www.gazeta.ru/comments/column/melamed/6003897.shtml.

¹⁶ The authors are thankful to an anonymous reviewer for suggesting these historical parallels.

¹⁷ P. Netreba and D. Butrin, “Biudzhetnomu Pravilu Podyskivayut Iskliuchenia” [Looking for Exceptions to Budgetary Rules], Kommersant, 21 April 2014, http://kommersant.ru/doc/2457176.

¹⁸ “On the Organization and Conduct of the Twenty-Second Olympic Winter Games and the Eleventh Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi, the Development of the City of Sochi as a Mountain Climate Resort, and Changes Introduced into Laws of the Russian Federation”, Rossiiskaia Gazeta, 2001, 5 December 2007, http://www.rg.ru/2007/12/05/sochi-dok.html.

¹⁹ “Priamaya linia s Vladimirom Putinym” [Direct Line with Vladimir Putin], 7 April 2014, http://www.kremlin.ru/transcripts/20796.

²⁰ Gorokhov, “National Identities in Global Sportive Culture”.

²¹ M. Yampolskiy, “Pogruzhenie v Arkhaiku” [Immersion to Archaics], Radio Liberty, 13 April 2014, http://www.svoboda.org/content/article/25327104.html.

²² S. Markov, “Putin Scores Gold With Sochi Miracle”, The Moscow Times, 21 February 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/putin-scores-gold-with-sochi-miracle/494790.html.

²³ See, for example: Tsygankov and Tsygankov, “National Ideology and IR Theory”.

²⁴ “Krym Vozvraschaetsa v Sovetskiy Soyuz. Razgovor s Timurom Olevskim” [Crimea is Coming Back to the Soviet Union. A Conversation with Timur Olevsky], TV Dozhd’, 9 March 2014, http://tvrain.ru/articles/krym_vozvraschaetsja_v_sovetskij_sojuz_razgovor_s_timurom_olevskim-364667.

²⁵ V. Sorokin, “Let the Past Collapse on Time!”, The New York Review of Books, 8 May 2014, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/may/08/let-the-past-collapse-on-time.

²⁶ S. Norris, “Ukraine’s New Sites of Memory: A Candle in Kiev”, The Moscow Times, 1 April 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/ukraines-new-sites-of-memory-a-candle-in-kiev/497140.html.

²⁷ “Putin: Ukraina Vyshla Iz SSSR Ne Vpolne Zakonno” [Putin: Ukraine Seceeded from the USSR not Completely Legally], Hvilya, 12 March 2014.

²⁸ B. Reitschuster, “Sochi is to Putin what Berlin in 1936 was to Hitler, Says Garry Kasparov”, The Guardian, 7 Feb. 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/07/sochi-vladimir-putin-hitler-berlin-garry-kasparov.

²⁹ P. Hohnson, “Is Vladimir Putin Another Adolf Hitler?”, Forbes, 16 April 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/currentevents/2014/04/16/is-vladimir-putin-another-adolf-hitler.

³⁰ A. Shekhovtsov, “Italian Fascists Love Putin”, Anton Shekhovtsov’s Blog, 29 March 2014, networkedblogs.com/Vo03J.

³¹ V. Shenderovich, “Antifashisty s Bananami” [Anti-fascists with banana], Ekho Moskvy, 13 February 2014, http://echo.msk.ru/blog/shenderovich/1257858-echo.

³² A. Migranian, “Nashi Peredonovy” [Our Peredonovs], Izvestia, 3 April 2014, http://izvestia.ru/news/568603.

³³ Arnold and Foxall, “Lord of the (Five) Rings”, 7.

³⁴ A. Tsygankov, “Stop the Hitler Comparisons”, The Moscow Times, 20 March 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/stop-the-hitler-comparisons/496495.html.

³⁵ E. Babushkin, “Zhizn’ y Sud’ba Olympiyskikh Fashistov” [Life and Destiny of Olympic Fascists], Snob, 17 February 2014, www.snob.ru/selected/entry/71856; “Samaya Protivorechivaya. XI Olimpiada, Berlin, 1936” [The Most Controversial: the 1936 Olympics in Berlin]. 10 Zanimatel’nykh Faktov, 16 Feb. 2014, www.trofmash.ru/2014/02/16/olympiad1936.

³⁶ “MID Rossii Poprosil Vlasti Kazakhstana Otreagirovat’ Na Zhurnal’nuyu Statyu o Gitlere” [Russian Foreign Ministry Asked Authorities in Kazakhstan to React to a Journal Atricle About Hitler]. Dozhd’ TV Web Portal, 21 April 2014, http://tvrain.ru/articles/mid_rossii_poprosil_vlasti_kazahstana_otreagirovat_na_zhurnalnuju_statju_o_gitlere-367260.

³⁷ S. Norris, “Ukraine’s New Sites of Memory, Part III: The Two Banderas”, The Moscow Times, 15 April 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/ukraines-new-sites-of-memory-part-iii-the-two-banderas/498069.html.

³⁸ A. Gogun, “Zapreschionnyi Bandera” [Forbidden Bandera]. Radio Liberty, 20 April 2014, http://www.svoboda.org/content/article/25355555.html.

³⁹ M. Schofield, “Stepan Bandera is a Hero to Ukrainian Nationalists and a Nazi Collaborator to Russian Sympathizers”, The Toronto Star, 6 April 2014, http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/04/06/ukraine_vs_russia_inside_the_divisive_myth_of_stepan_bandera.html.

⁴⁰ S. Norris, “Ukraine’s Sites of Memory: Chernobyl in the Heart”, The Moscow Times, 7 April 2014, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/ukraines-sites-of-memory-chernobyl-in-the-heart/497654.html.

⁴¹ H. Coynash, “East Ukraine Crisis and the ‘Fascist’ Matrix”, Al Jazeera, 17 April 2014, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/04/east-ukraine-crisis-fascist-ma-2014416145823826439.html.

⁴² A. Chuprina, “I.Sivov v Interv’iu DK o Tom, Pochemu Na Kul’turnuiu Universiadu Ne Bylo Zhalko Nikakikh Deneg” [I. Sivov’s Interview: Why There Were No Regrets About Spending Fortunes for the Cultural Universiade], Gorod, 20 September 2013, http://kazan.dk.ru/news/isivov-v-intervyu-dk-o-tom-pochemu-na-kulturnuyu-universiadu-ne-bylo-zhalko-nikakix-deneg-236763295#ixzz30ZQmBa55.

⁴³ S. Medvedev, “Olimpiyskaya Shizofrenia: Pochemu v Rossii Ne Khvataet Gogolia”, [Olympic Schizophrenia: Why We in Russia are Missing Gogol], Forbes, 19 February 2014, http://www.forbes.ru/mneniya-column/tsennosti/251013-olimpiiskaya-shizofreniya-pochemu-v-sochi-ne-khvataet-gogolya.

⁴⁴ B. Mezhuev, “Russkiy Mir Prikhodit v Evropu” [Russian World is Coming to Europe]. Izvestia, 17 April 2014, http://izvestia.ru/news/569452#add_comment.

⁴⁵ Ibid.

⁴⁶ S. Savell, “Security in Brazil: World Cup 2014 and Beyond”, Anthropoliteia, 2 May 2014, http://anthropoliteia.net/category/commentary-forums/security-in-brazil-world-cup-2014-and-beyond.

⁴⁷ Zhemukhov and Orttung, “Munich Syndrome”, 26.

⁴⁸ “Kubantsy nadeiyutsia na vkhozhdenie kazakov Kryma v sostav Kubanskogo voiska” [People in Kuban’ Expect the Inclusion of Crimean Cossacks in the Kuban’ Regiments], RIA Novosti Information Agency, 28 April 2014, http://ria.ru/society/20140428/1005783511.html.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrey Makarychev

Andrey Makarychev is Professor at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Email: [email protected].

Alexandra Yatsyk

Alexandra Yatsyk is Associate Professor at Kazan Federal University, Russia. Email: [email protected]