The Role of Ideology in Shaping Russian Foreign Policy from the 1990-s to the Present Day. A Constructivist Analysis

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation has taken several shifts over the past few decades. This paper aims to explore the ideological influences over Russian foreign policy from the early 1990s to the present day. Despite the absence of an official ideology of Russia, it is nevertheless possible to trace certain ideological considerations throughout Russian foreign policy. This research highlights five distinct eras of Russian foreign policy: Integration with the West, Great Power Balancing and Multipolarity, Great Power Pragmatism, Great Power Assertiveness, and the current era of Civilizationalism and the role of Russia as an Independent Global Great Power. This paper describes how each era of foreign policy came to be, the main goals and objectives of each era, and the specific decisions made. The findings of this research show that ideological considerations have played a formative role in certain eras of Russian foreign policy, such as the early 1990s and the current era, while remaining less important in other eras. Employing a constructivist theoretical framework, this research concludes that the ideological shifts in Russian foreign policy may be attributed to the relationship between the West and Russia.