Political Ideologies in Contemporary Russia by Chebankova Elena;

Author:Chebankova, Elena;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780228004387
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 2020-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

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Multipolar World Order Ideas

MAIN POSITIONS AND ACTORS

Deliberations on the nature of the extant world order are becoming increasingly important in the global political discourse. Two competing interpretations dominate this debate. The first is seen in the idea of unipolarity, buttressed by the global advance of liberal democracy and capitalism. The second interpretation lies in the idea of multipolarity, which advocates multiple centres of political and economic influence. The existence of these multiple centres of influence is sustained by normative pluralism in cultural and ideological spheres and a multiplicity of political forms in the institutional area. The arrival of the multipolar discourse in in the international arena is defined by the fact that the American-led Western hegemony is being challenged in the discursive, economic, and military spheres. The world is being increasingly divided into subjective spheres of influence, and the erstwhile hegemony of the Western realm is in need of redefinition. The prospect of having to share global power could lead to a confrontation and invokes a range of contradictions. These are the contradictions between hegemony and multipolarity; between globalization and identity politics; as well as between social justice and globalization of the economy. More importantly, some forms of civilizational confrontation, invoked by substantive differences in the discursive-cultural realms, require the development of meaningful forms of civilizational realism.

This confrontation will require political management, because new conditions are difficult to comprehend using existent theories of international relations. Despite being engaged in the polarity discourse for some decades (Waltz 1979; Deutsch and Singer 1964; Krauthammer 1991), the literature on international relations is generally confused over developments taking place in this sphere. The relations between major powers have a significant impact in shaping the nature of the global order, and therefore the number and nature of major centres of power are likely to be important structural factors in world politics. Thus, the development of an ideology that could legitimize the practice of managing the newly emerging civilizational realism has become a necessity. Russia’s official line (National Security Concept 2000), as well as her major ideological paradigm of traditionalism, considers the multipolar world order an ideal model of international relations, grounded in the normative principles of equality, fairness, plurality of cultures, and the ‘great variety of interests’ of the modern world. The idea of constructing a multipolar world order took on key metaphysical and political significance in the Russian public discourse during the period of Yevgeny Primakov’s diplomacy (1996–98). It has subsequently turned into an official foreign-policy doctrine with Vladimir Putin’s accession to power. The fact that these ideas often coincide with the official position of the Russian state makes the discussion of the ideological foundations of this doctrine ever more important. It is a doctrine that informs Russia’s international conduct, as well as a theory/discursive practice that Russia wants to offer to the world as a means of fulfilling new alternative hegemonic ambitions. From this point of view, the newly emerging theories about world polarity in Russia represent an important strand of thought that

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