Beschreibung
Identifying conditions under which peaceful cooperation emerges and erodes
represents one of the great challenges for policy-makers and scholars of
International Relations. To address this question, the author analyzes the
Russian discourse on NATO to understand the heavily oscillating curve of
NATO-Russian relations under Putin. Drawing on the constructivist approach
of security communities, the present study shows how the lack of a common
identity undermined the nascent security community that had developed on
the surface in the early years of Putin’s presidency. This, in turn,
enabled rhetorical brinkmanship and political actions that brought both
sides to the verge of war in August 2008.
Matthias Conrad works for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). He studied International Relations at cooperating
universities in Berlin/Potsdam (MAIB) and Moscow (MGIMO).
