Military intervention as status-seeking in Russian foreign policy (2008-2015)

Many observers contend that Russian foreign policy has become more assertive since 2008. The increase in the level of Russian assertiveness manifested itself, especially in the military interventions in Georgia (2008), Ukraine (2014), and Syria (2015). This dissertation aims to contribute to the efforts to explain the Russian rationale for pursuing assertive policies in post-Soviet space and beyond. In this endeavor, it is committed to a framework that entails focusing on the interplay between Russia's great power identity and the Russian perception of repeated misrecognition of its great power status by the Euro-Atlantic bloc. To trace Russian status considerations in the respective interventions, this dissertation utilized ninety-five transcripts of Vladimir Putin's addresses and interviews complemented with Russian foreign policy concepts, statements, and articles from other Russian officials. The foundational argument of this study is that great power identity and status considerations are the defining characteristics of Vladimir Putin's foreign policy. For Putin, Russia's inherent qualities necessitate an independent foreign policy materializing a multipolar world order, and this necessity is augmented by the very configuration of the post-Cold War order, in which the US asserts its interests at the expense of Russian interests in a triumphalist manner. The case studies conducted in guidance with this argument provided three conjoining findings. First, Russian decision-makers are confident that their interests have been constantly disregarded by their Western counterparts before and during the developments leading up to each intervention, leaving them with no other choice than hard power. Second, for Russian decision-makers, intervention has become an end in itself because imitating US actions is one of the means to materialize multipolarity by signaling equal status between Russia and the US. Third, Russian decision-makers utilized Russia's developing military capabilities to demonstrate their determination to ensure recognition of Russia's great power status.