The Genesis and Doctrinal Features of Russia’s Strategic Culture

Abstract

Russian strategic culture has an exceptional set of characteristics reflecting the specifics of modern Russian foreign policy. The historical features of the founding of the Russian state and the traditions of military thought have determined the specifics of the use of military force by the Russian Federation and its strategic culture, as well as the format of the vision of the world order reflecting Russia’s national interests and its place in it. The essence of the Russian strategic culture consists of the following ideological elements: prevention in repelling threats from the outside world, the greatpower and mediocrity of the state in relation to the world order, the “Russian way” of the militarized beginning of Russian foreign policy as the main basis of national defense, the need for an equal and fair world order that takes into account the interests of all participants. These circumstances have an impact on the formation of the doctrinal foundations of modern Russian foreign policy, forming a special political rhetoric of the strategic planning documents of the Russian Federation. Aim. To analyze the genesis of the Russian strategic culture and to assess the implementation of its postulates in the strategic planning documents of the Russian Federation. Methods. The work uses content and discourse analysis to identify the essence and content of Russian strategic culture in doctrinal documents. The material also contains an analysis of documents and sources necessary to understand the specifics of Russian strategic culture. Results. The analysis revealed the manifestations of Russia’s strategic culture in such documents as the Concept of Foreign Policy, Military Doctrine, etc., which reflects the continuity of the ideological foundations of Russia’s foreign policy, as well as reflects the ideological foundations of Russia in understanding the world order: the equality of all states, the predominance of the interests of the state over the individual, the denial of hegemony and the unification of cultural civilizational features of the countries of the world. It is important that such a strategic view of the Russian people finds expression in the practice of modern Russian foreign policy, its substantive and regional priorities, reflected, in particular, in the current Concept of foreign Policy. Conclusions. The features of the Russian strategic culture determine the constructive and defensive beginning of the foreign policy course of the Russian Federation, which is reflected in the strategic planning documents.