Putin just created a new anti-Western foreign policy outlook
For the first time since 2016, Vladimir Putin has re-evaluated and prescribed a foreign policy outlook for Russia. The new Foreign Policy Concept, as it is being called, is anti-Western in nature and looks to countries like India and China to help Russia shape a multi-polar world order.
This new outlook is also a major influence operation. So much so that the Russian Federation has translated the document to English and posted it to their website. You can read it below.
In it, Russia makes some questionable claims such as the notion that “the Russian Federation, generally recognized principles and norms of international law…” or claiming to “strengthen international peace and security…”
The opening portion of the document suggests two things. First, that Russia is trying to solidify their national narrative to garner support for their plans through history, nostalgia, and accusations. Second, Russia’s initial goal is to provoke the Western backed international order and to influence rising powers to join their cause. Ultimately, those ambitions are laid out more tenuously.
For example, the document claims there exists a current “imbalanced model of world development which has for centuries ensured the advanced economic growth of colonial powers…” Mind you, Russia itself was an Imperial power, stretching across vast territories of Asia and benefiting from that position.
Additionally, the document claims the widespread use of coercion is present in international institutions (specifically the UN Security Council), and that such power is being used to destabilize norms and institutions that Russia — and states like it — depend on, or otherwise wish to use (allegedly) to achieve some type of international harmony.
While there may be fractional truths to some of the presented claims, Russia and China are nations that have continually used their presence in international institutions to progress their selfish and sometimes illegal policies. As an example, it was China who used their presence on the UNSC to propose a phony Ukraine Peace Plan that favored Russian interests while simultaneously providing no method to achieve peace exclusive of Russian victory and Ukraine’s capitulation. And while it is obvious to the world, we must remind Russia of their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine…
Perhaps one of the most interesting points, in part due to its relevancy, is the assessment of America’s role in that very war. It is worth reading outright because it serves as a microcosm for something Russia does exceedingly well, and something that is at the core of its stratagems: deflect, deny, and accuse.
It is a particularly interesting paragraph insofar as it is neither entirely true, nor entirely false. It lacks specificity to the degree it can be denied with counterclaims, but it holds enough rhetoric to give cause for legitimate debate. In short, it makes it difficult for the thinking man (voters) to buy in to rigid policy (more money for Ukraine/NATO membership/EU membership/etc.) In this examples particular case, the involvement of US assets and capabilities in Ukraine is a debate going on by our very own leaders, not only pro-Russian oligarchs in Moscow and St. Petersburg. So there is certainly some real effects to Russia’s ability to “paint a picture,” so to speak.
Additionally, it is in that sentiment we find the elusive anti-Western ambitions. Russia and its desired allies, China and India among them, are able to buy in to those claims and support them (all the while ignoring the fact that Russia was one of those imperial powers) because there is historical evidence to support the rhetoric. What Russia, and states like it, fail to parade is the full picture. It is no secret that Russia, China, and India are share a history of self-determined terror, exploitation, human rights violations, or corruption.
In short, the piece that the Russian Federation has prescribed to its policy makers here is extremely pro-Russian and anti-Western. Using sentiments and rhetoric that appeal to self-determination, equitable justice, preservation of identity, and phony altruism, Russia has cleverly shaped a case against the US and the nations who back our Western values and lifestyle. While it is somewhat easy for the West to see through, for open discourse to occur, and to point back to the fact that we actually do embody those values, it is not to say that the developing world do not share some of Russia’s sentiments regardless of if they are pro-Russian or not.
So we must remember that this document claims the US and our allies have generated a “hybrid war” against Russia’s interests in Ukraine, while also citing China and India as rising powers and hopeful partners. It would appear Russia’s future as an aggressive pariah state is being written.
— — — — —
What do you think? Has Russia crafted a clever concept to aid in their anti-Western crusade? Can we expect nations like China and India to echo similar rhetoric behind policy?
Let me know in the comments.
