What Happens When You Poke The Bear: The Evolution of Internally-Revisionist International Strategy in the Russian Federation

Abstract

This research sought to answer the question of what has made the Russian international strategy so successful since the fall of the Soviet Union. It is hypothesized that the more internally-revisionist the Russian international strategy is, the more successful it will be in preserving and promoting the Kremlin’s interests globally. Internal-revisionism is a strategic approach that embraces adaptationalism and creativity in the policy-making process. These states pose a challenge to the status quo by taking the normative standards and rules of the game, and exploiting them in order to pursue goals that go against what the status quo power(s) want. Thus, those states in power may be forced to alter the structure of the status quo, seeing as the methods of keeping an adversary from promoting interests that are detrimental to the former’s power are working. To examine this claim, three strategic periods are identified for analysis: The “Hail Mary” (1990-1999); “Lessons Learned” (2000-2012); and “A Great Power Once More” (2013-present). Focusing on foreign policy, national security strategy, and case studies of armed intervention for each period, it is determined that internal-revisionism has a strong relation to strategic success.