German Policy through the Lens of Russian Mainstream Thinking

Abstract

The article explores the way in which German policies are portrayed in the Russian mainstream narrative. It concentrates on the ‘real sovereignty’ theory, which seems to have captured the mainstream thinking of world politics in Russia. Three aspects of this theory are discussed: first, whether it withstands the test of the Ukraine crisis; second, whether it can provide the Russian political establishment with an appropriate explanation of the current state of relations with Germany, at its lowest since reunification; and finally, if it gives the Russian political establishment a pretext to believe that the strategic partnership is not terminated but only temporarily suspended. The mainstream Russian narrative provides grounds for Moscow to believe that a strategic partnership with Germany is still feasible. However, the underlying purposes of such a partnership, as seen in Berlin and Moscow, are rather different and can hardly be reconciled.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Andrei Zagorski is Head of Disarmament and Conflict Resolution Studies at the Primakov National Research Institute of Word Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is also Professor of international relations at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University) and member of the Russian International Affairs Council. Previously, he has served as Vice-Rector of MGIMO; Senior Vice-President of the EastWest Institute; Faculty Member of the Geneva Center for Security Policy and Deputy Director of the Institute for Applied International Research, Moscow.

Notes

1 Another survey conducted in spring 2016 in Germany and Russia by TNS Infratest on behalf of the Hamburg-based Körber Stiftung came to a different conclusion. According to the survey, 48 per cent of Germans and some 25 per cent of Russians see the other country as a threat. However, the survey did not differentiate between different versions of the concept of threat (Körber-Stiftung 2016a, 7).

Additional information

Funding

This paper is an output of the project ‘Germany’s Eastern Challenge: A “Hybrid Ostpolitik” in the Making?’ of the Institute of International Relations Prague and it was supported through institutional funding provided by the government of the Czech Republic.