Abstract
The subject of Russia’s foreign policy toward Georgia has been extensively studied. Despite the abundance of available resources, there is a notable lack of long-term analyses that elucidate Russia’s post-Cold War foreign policy approach to Georgia. Furthermore, existing longitudinal studies on Russian foreign policy primarily fall into three explanatory categories: Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism. I believe that Ontological Security Theory (OST), an intriguing theoretical framework, could potentially offer a more comprehensive explanation of Russia’s foreign policy stance toward Georgia. However, OST has not yet been applied to examine Russian foreign policy in relation to Georgia. First, this study is one of the few longitudinal investigations on the topic and it may or may not reveal consistent patterns in Russian foreign policy towards Georgia. Second, I employ an OST to enhance our understanding of Russia’s foreign policy towards Georgia. As previously stated, this paper demonstrates that existing studies on Russian foreign policy can be categorized into approximately three schools of thought in International Relations (IR) and do not provide a comprehensive representation of Russia’s foreign policy. It is hypothesized that a similar situation exists with regard to Russia’s foreign policy towards Georgia. OST is anticipated to provide a robust analytical framework for understanding Russia’s foreign policy towards Georgia in the post-Cold War era. Consequently, OST is expected to elucidate the distinctive characteristics and patterns of Russian foreign policy that are specific to this case and potentially indicative of broader trends in Russian foreign policy.
Presenters
Nikoloz EsitashviliProfessor, Politics and Diplomacy, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Georgia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Ontological Security, Russia, Georgia, Foreign Policy, Europe
