The goal of this essay is to prove that national identity, as perceived by the Russian leadership plays an important role in the making of Russian foreign policy. The thesis is that Russian...Show moreThe goal of this essay is to prove that national identity, as perceived by the Russian leadership plays an important role in the making of Russian foreign policy. The thesis is that Russian-Brazilian relations confirm this importance of identity in Russian foreign policy. Although Russia and Brazil share certain commonalities when it comes to the size of the countries and populations, the leadership potential that comes with that, the developments they have gone through over the past century, similarities in their economies and some of the social issues they face today, in a practical sense they do not have that much in common. Geographically, they are remote from one another, historically they have been on opposite sides of the Cold War and they have very different regime types, Brazil being a fully-fledged democracy whereas Russia boasts a hybrid regime with authoritarian traits. They could easily conduct their internal and external affairs without investing any time and effort in bilateral relations, as they more or less have done in the 1990s. Therefore, Moscow’s relations with Brasilia make an interesting case to explore the motivations behind, as they are neither self-explanatory nor indispensable. This essay does not aim to prove that Russian-Brazilian relations are essential to Russian foreign policy. As abovementioned, they clearly are not indispensable. The Russian leadership does identify Brazil as a key partner in Latin America and describes the relationship as being of strategic importance , and in recent years the Kremlin has attributed increasing importance to relations with Latin America, but there can be no doubt that the region takes a backseat to Europe, Asia and North-America in Russian foreign policy. This essay merely sets out to demonstrate that matters of national identity play a role in the making of Russian foreign policy, and aims to lend further credence to this thesis by analysing Russian-Brazilian relations. To this end, part I of this essay offers an analysis of Russian foreign policy in the 21st century, paying special attention to Realist tendencies and matters that seem to illustrate the importance of identity, whereas part II of this essay focuses on Russian-Brazilian relations and how these seem to indicate the importance of identity in Russian foreign policy.Show less
