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
In 1876 a new school for industrial arts was founded in St. Petersburg after the foundation of several schools alike throughout Europe. The school was named the Baron Stieglitz Central School of...Show moreIn 1876 a new school for industrial arts was founded in St. Petersburg after the foundation of several schools alike throughout Europe. The school was named the Baron Stieglitz Central School of Technical Drawing, named after the Stieglitz family. Baron A.L. Stieglitz wanted to commemorate his father’s successes in the commercial and industrial businesses and donated one million rubbles to the Russian state. With this money he wanted to found the design school and upon his donation he heard back from Emperor Alexander II himself. The patriotic Stieglitz not only wanted to commemorate his father, but was sincerely involved with the education of Russian students in the arts and crafts. This thesis will focus on the Baron Stieglitz Museum which was attached to the school. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century a lot has happened in Russia on cultural, political and industrial grounds. This thesis will examine whether or not these factors have influenced the Baron Stieglitz Museum. The research questions which will be answered throughout this thesis are: How have cultural and political factors of the nineteenth and early twentieth century Russia determined the outline of the Baron Stieglitz Museum and its collection? What was the position of the Stieglitz Museum within the context of the other European decorative art museums of the nineteenth century? In Europe, several decorative art museums were founded after the International Great Exhibition of 1851 held in London. It turned out that the Industrial Revolution and the abolishment of the guilds had had more impact on the decorative arts than anticipated. Aesthetically and technically there was a decrease in quality. The newly founded schools were supposed to educate craftsmen and future artists. Collections of decorative art were assembled which served the students as proper examples from which they could learn and develop their own objects. These collections expanded and came to stand on their own which required new museum buildings. The decorative art museums and schools from London, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Moscow have been examined in this thesis. These five have influenced the development of the St. Petersburg school and museum of Baron Stieglitz architecturally and educationally. This thesis will begin with a historiography which shows that not much research has been carried out on this subject other than in Russia. Then, chapter two discussed the foundation of the school and museum and the historicist architecture. Also, Russia’s development of a national style, the kustar art movement and its connection to the Baron Stieglitz Museum will be treated. Chapter three discusses the European context of the decorative art museums and in what way the schools and museums in London, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Moscow have inspired the Baron Stieglitz Museum and School. Chapter four elaborates on the collection of the Baron Stieglitz Museum with a focus on eighteenth century French furniture, unique tapestries, five paintings by G.B. Tiepolo and a collection of Russian tile stoves. Chapter five gives more information about the changing politics at the beginning of the twentieth century and what the consequences were for the Baron Stieglitz Museum. Finally, in chapter six, an epilogue is provided where more information about the current state of affairs at the Baron Stieglitz Museum is given and chapter seven gives a conclusion where the research questions are answered. The chapter about the collection is devoted to its formation as it was before the 1920s.The collections of Baron A.L. Stieglitz and A.A. Polovtsov were the start collections of the museum, but unfortunately it is not known what they consisted of. The objects were not acquired systematically, but came to the museum through donations or bequests. Also A.A. Polovtsov and M.E. Mesmacher made large acquisitions which they bought mostly abroad. They had good relationships with several antiquarians from whom they bought regularly. They also bought at auctions which probably had been the case with the five large Tiepolo paintings. The Baron Stieglitz Museum has been formed through events that took place in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Nationalism has been of importance to the foundation of the school, since Stieglitz was sincerely concerned with the development of the crafts in Russia. It has also been of importance to the architecture of the museum building. After the Napoleon wars the patriotic feelings of the people were stimulated and when their confiscated objects returned home (after being part of the Musée Napoleon) national museums were founded. The historicist style has been frequently employed to illustrate the summits of history in one building. Halls in museums were decorated in different styles to suite the objects on display. When the visitor went through the museum he was able to determine his own national legacy and compare it to those of the other countries all over the world. The South Kensington Museum was founded after it turned out that the objects of France, presented at the Great Exhibition, were superior to those of all other countries. England believed they should have been the best nation instead. The South Kensington Museum is throughout the nineteenth century considered the most important school and museum and has served as an example for many design schools and decorative art museums that followed. The Baron Stieglitz Museum has never been able to reach the level that the South Kensington Museum and the other museums had in the European economical market. The Baron Stieglitz Museum focused mainly on the national Russian market. The position the Baron Stieglitz Museum held within the other European decorative art museums has been minor even though the collection and building were not inferior to those of the others. Political factors have been of lesser influence to the Baron Stieglitz Museum as the cultural factors. Nationalism and the results of industrialism have played a major role and were the main reasons for the foundation of the school and museum. They have influenced the Baron Stieglitz Museum in a positive way. The political factors on the other hand caused the downfall of the museum. Due to the wars and the changing perspectives in Russia, the museum and its collection were neglected. At some point, the museum needed money to pay for restoration, but was not able to. In 1923 it was decided that the collection came under the supervision of the State Hermitage and in 1927 it was decided that all 12.000 objects should be transferred to the main premises. At the State Hermitage they were divided among the departments and other museums. After the Second World War, some objects returned but only the least valuable ones and copies of original works. The Baron Stieglitz Museum in its original form had ceased to exist two decades earlier: a new museum had come in its place.Show less
In deze scriptie wordt gepoogd een overtuigend argument te maken voor het bestaan van een langer, gedeeld, ideologisch conflict tussen Amerika en Rusland, waarmee de Koude Oorlog te beschouwen valt...Show moreIn deze scriptie wordt gepoogd een overtuigend argument te maken voor het bestaan van een langer, gedeeld, ideologisch conflict tussen Amerika en Rusland, waarmee de Koude Oorlog te beschouwen valt als slechts een gemilitariseerde, maar absoluut unieke, piek in een langere geschiedenis van ideologische antipathie. In dat opzicht sluit het betoog zich impliciet enigszins aan bij de school historici die de oorzaken van de Koude Oorlog primair, vaak in antwoord op revisionistische theorieën, zoeken in de rol van ideologie. Het antwoord wordt gezocht in bronnen die verhalen over de visie van voornamelijk Amerikaanse diplomaten, hoogwaardigheidsbekleders, journalisten, schrijvers, politici en academici in verschillende lezingen, publicaties en briefwisselingen. De nadruk ligt op de late negentiende eeuw.Show less
Why is it that states that are best endowed with power resources do not always achieve the outcomes they desire? This phenomenon is what Baldwin (1979) calls the “paradox of unrealized power”. Dahl...Show moreWhy is it that states that are best endowed with power resources do not always achieve the outcomes they desire? This phenomenon is what Baldwin (1979) calls the “paradox of unrealized power”. Dahl (1957) famously defines power as A getting B to do something that B would otherwise not have done. An example of this paradox is the outcome of the battle between the European Union and the Russian Federation over Ukraine. Since 2004 both the EU and Russia have sought closer integration with Ukraine (Wilson and Popescu 2009). In 2014 Ukraine signed an Association Agreement with the EU, while regions in east Ukraine declared independence and Crimea even acceded to Russia (AlJazeera 2014; BBC 2014a; Reuters 2014a; Centrum for Strategic and International Studies 2014). Paradoxically, although the EU in total possesses more power resources than Russia, it was the Kremlin that achieved their desired outcome of closer integration in the east of Ukraine. In the literature on power two major explanations aim to account for such phenomena: A’s faulty power conversion strategies and A’s failed contextual analysis (Baldwin 1979). Yet one crucial element that is absent in the contextual explanation is a theoretical model about what ultimately motivates B to comply. In order to assess whether the combination of the power conversion and the refined contextual explanation accounts for the paradox, the causal process behind the outcomes of the Ukrainian crisis of 2013/2014 is analyzed using process-tracing. The analysis of behavioral motivations suggests that B’s self-identification determines the boundaries within which A can realize its power, and that B’s identity is largely beyond the control of A. The results also indicate that A’s power conversion strategy needs to include tangible means of power to achieve the goal of territorial expansion.Show less
A study on the small state of Estonia and the relationship with its predatory neighbour Russia, as well as the security policy that Estonia implements because of this relationship.
Advanced master thesis | Political Science (Advanced Master)
open access
This work examines the discourse of the political leaders on the Crimean crisis of 2014. It explores the development of national identities of Russia and Ukraine, from historical roots to modernity...Show moreThis work examines the discourse of the political leaders on the Crimean crisis of 2014. It explores the development of national identities of Russia and Ukraine, from historical roots to modernity, in the context of political discoursive encounters. This work is focused on the struggle for legitimization, the Other, and the states as actors that emerge in the discourse.Show less
Levitsky & Way (2010) have performed interesting research on competitive authoritarian regimes(CAR). They investigated the influence of democracies on these type of regimes. They also noted...Show moreLevitsky & Way (2010) have performed interesting research on competitive authoritarian regimes(CAR). They investigated the influence of democracies on these type of regimes. They also noted that there are authoritarian regimes who influenced the same CAR's. They labelled these authoritarian regimes Black Knights. This thesis investigates the influence of such a Black Knight on a CAR, in this case the influence of Russia on Kyrgyzstan. This thesis furthermore provides a possible framework for performing research on the influence of Black Knights on CAR's, by building on the existing theory of Levitsky & Way (2010).Show less
