European Identities and Foreign Policy Discourses on Russia
This book examines the relationship between national identity construction and current foreign policy discourses on Russia in selected European Union member states in 20142018.
It shows that divergent national discourses on Russia derive from the different ways in which the country was constructed in national identity. The book develops an interpretive theoretical framework and argues that policy makers agency can profoundly influence the contestation between different identity narratives. It includes case studies in policy areas that are of primary importance for EURussia relations, such as energy security (the Nord Stream 2 controversy), the Ukraine crisis and Russias military intervention in Syria. Focusing on EU member states that have traditionally taken different stances vis--vis Russia (Germany, Poland and Finland), it shows that at the peak of the Ukraine crisis national discourses converged towards a pragmatic, but critical narrative. As the Ukraine crisis subsided and new events took centre stage in foreign policy discussions (i.e. the Syrian civil war, international terrorism), long-standing and identity-based divergences partly re-emerged in the discourses of policy makers. This became particularly evident during the Nord Stream 2 controversy. Deep-rooted and different perceptions of the Russian Other in EU member states are still influential and lead to divergent national agendas for foreign policy towards Russia.
This book will be of interest to students and scholars working in European and EU politics, Russian and Soviet politics, and International Relations.
Marco Siddi is Senior Research Fellow in the European Union Programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Finland.
Routledge Studies in European Foreign Policy
Series Editors:
Richard Whitman
University of Kent, UK
and
Richard Youngs
University of Warwick, UK
This series addresses the standard range of conceptual and theoretical questions related to European foreign policy. At the same time, in response to the intensity of new policy developments, it endeavours to ensure that it also has a topical flavour, addressing the most important and evolving challenges to European foreign policy, in a way that will be relevant to the policy-making and think-tank communities.
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European Identities and Foreign Policy Discourses on Russia
From the Ukraine to the Syrian Crisis
Marco Siddi
European Identities and Foreign Policy Discourses on Russia
From the Ukraine to the Syrian Crisis
Marco Siddi
First published 2020
by Routledge
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2020 Marco Siddi
The right of Marco Siddi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Siddi, Marco, author.
Title: European identities and foreign policy discourses on Russia : from the Ukraine to the Syrian crisis / Marco Siddi.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. | Series: Routledge studies in european foreign policy | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020006744 (print) | LCCN 2020006745 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138231528 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315315164 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Russia (Federation)Foreign relationsEuropean Union countries. | European Union countriesForeign relationsRussia (Federation) | National characteristics, EuropeanPolitical aspects. | Russia (Federation)Foreign public opinion, European. | Ukraine Conflict, 2014- | SyriaHistoryCivil War, 2011Participation, Russian. | Natural gas pipelinesEurope. | Natural gas pipelinesRussia (Federation)
Classification: LCC JZ1616.A54 S53 2020 (print) |
LCC JZ1616.A54 (ebook) | DDC 327.4704dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006744
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006745
ISBN: 978-1-138-23152-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-31516-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
This book explores the relationship between national identity and political discourses on Russia in Germany, Poland and Finland between 2014 and 2018, in the context of the Ukraine crisis, the Nord Stream 2 project and the Syrian conflict. The book is the outcome of the research that I have conducted during both my doctoral (20102014) and postdoctoral (20152019) studies. I am particularly thankful to the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, the European Commission, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cologne for providing me with the means to do the research and write the book. I am also thankful to my partner, Barbara, for her patience during the numerous evenings that I spent writing and editing this book.
The theoretical, methodological and conceptual framework of the book draws largely on the approach I have used in my PhD dissertation and my first book publication, M. Siddi, National Identities and Foreign Policy in the European Union (2017b). While my first book focused on the years 20052014 taking the first Nord Stream project, the 2008 RussianGeorgian War, the protests in Russian cities in 20112012 and the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis as case studies this book analyses more recent empirical material. Since 2015, the security debate in EURussia relations has extended to other contexts beyond Ukraine, most notably the Syrian conflict, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean geopolitics. Sanctions and disagreements over Ukraine have become the new normal but attempts to mediate the conflict have continued. Moreover, confrontation in the Ukraine crisis has spilled over to aspects of domestic security in EU member states, as highlighted by allegations of Russian interference in European electoral processes. I have analysed these issues also in my FIIA Report, M. Siddi,
