Introduction
The Western realist school of international relations and foreign policy conduct provides a strong foundation for understanding international affairs and relations between states. However, the realist framework is sometimes not enough. Often, it provides a less than fully satisfactory explanatory apparatus. Most of all, realism lacks a healthy dose of what political scientists call ‘historical constructivism’ or simply ‘constructivism’ for analysing past outcomes as well as for policymakers, seeking to avoid unnecessary, potential conflicts and preserve the peace, which after all are core national interests for any state. The constructivist approach emphasises national cultures and norms and their influence on how states, their elites, and publics perceive their national interests. The NATO-Russia Ukrainian War and its causes have been aptly fleshed out by leading realist thinkers, most notably the erudite and always interesting Prof. John Mearsheimer. However, his argumentation in relation to the Russo-West conflict, in particular, as well as to other conflicts would be even more potent if it were to be amended by a constructivist look at how Russians perceive the history of their place in the world, the West, and Russia’s relations with the West.
Realism + Historical Constructivism
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NEW BOOK
EUROPE BOOKS, 2022
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RECENT BOOKS
MCFARLAND BOOKS, 2021
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MCFARLAND BOOKS, 2018
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About the Author –
Gordon M. Hahn, Ph.D., is an Expert Analyst at Corr Analytics, www.canalyt.com. Websites: Russian and Eurasian Politics, gordonhahn.com and gordonhahn.academia.edu
Dr. Hahn is the author of the new book: Russian Tselostnost’: Wholeness in Russian Thought, Culture, History, and Politics (Europe Books, 2022). He has authored five previous, well-received books: The Russian Dilemma: Security, Vigilance, and Relations with the West from Ivan III to Putin (McFarland, 2021); Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West, and the “New Cold War” (McFarland, 2018); The Caucasus Emirate Mujahedin: Global Jihadism in Russia’s North Caucasus and Beyond (McFarland, 2014), Russia’s Islamic Threat (Yale University Press, 2007), and Russia’s Revolution From Above: Reform, Transition and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime, 1985-2000 (Transaction, 2002). He also has published numerous think tank reports, academic articles, analyses, and commentaries in both English and Russian language media.
Dr. Hahn taught at Boston, American, Stanford, San Jose State, and San Francisco State Universities and as a Fulbright Scholar at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia and was a senior associate and visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Kennan Institute in Washington DC, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group.