During the International seminar Eurasia in Global Perspective, Ruslan Dzarasov, a senior research fellow at the Central Institute of Economics and Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented his work, titled Eurasian Project and Russian Neo-Revisionist strategy.
The revisionist theory of politics holds that the state attempts to change the existing world order by interfering into the affairs of other nations and even taking over neighbors using military means.
Dzarasov and his colleague Sakwa reject the notion that Russia is seeking a revisionist foreign policy.
"Sakwa gives a compelling case showing that Mr. Putin doesn't challenge domination of the West and the US hegemony in the world. The Russian leader is rather trying to defend Russian national interests in frameworks of the current world order," Dzarasov said in the paper.
Of course when talking about contemporary Russian foreign policy, Dzarasov couldn't ignore the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
Dzarasov revealed commonly unknown and ignored facts about the Ukrainian crisis that took place behind-the-scenes in Kiev.
"Long before the Maidan events the West established its control over all the major aspects of Ukrainian society, including powerful oligarchs who keep their capital in the West; the main oppositional political parties; mass media directly through the network of NGOs and indirectly through dependent oligarchs; security agencies and secret services; and militants from right-wing extremist organizations… Under such circumstances, it was the US diplomats to decide who will run the country weeks before the actual coup succeeded," Dzarasov said.
An analysis of the events prior, during and after the Maidan revolution show that the US government had a "very strong objective motive" to organize the Ukrainian crisis, because its own domination over the world was at stake, the Russian scholar explained.
The scholar predicted that the conflict in Syria would be resolved only if both the Russians and Americans manage to find a way to compromise.
"If Russians and Americans preserve compromise, the chance to maintain peace will be real," Dzarasov said.
With the work of Dzarasov and Sakwa, the existing scholarly narrative about the role of Russia in international relations is beginning to shift. Russia is no longer seen as a threat to the international community and the current world order. All Russia wants is for the West to recognize its national interests within the existing international system.
