Russian Discourses and Practices of Intervention

This book investigates Russian approaches to military intervention, war, and armed conflict in relation to the wars in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. It provides a comprehensive examination of Russian resistance to, and initiation of armed interventions as enabled by the collective, rather than Kremlin-centric, production of danger and Otherness. Applying a poststructuralist approach to foreign policy analysis, the book examines the significant yet often overlooked role of the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament in foreign policymaking. It explores the discursive interactions between the Parliament, the Presidency, and the government to highlight the social processes and mechanisms that made various forms of intervention and violent military actions conceivable, imaginable, and ultimately possible over time. This volume will appeal to academics and students specializing in Russian foreign policy, intervention, state sovereignty, and Russia-West relations. The empirical focus makes it particularly relevant for those studying the wars in Libya and Syria, the conflict in southeast Ukraine (2014–2015), and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Additionally, the book’s theoretical and methodological framework offers valuable insights for scholars and students interested in discursive approaches to foreign policy analysis.