New Russian Foreign Policy Between 2012-2018 According to Snyder’s Decision–Making Approach

Abstract

Foreign policy (FP) is a diverse and complex topic that most states depend on to advance their interests on a regional and global scale. It is thought that new Russian FP has a significant impact on different sectors of world politics. Hence, this thesis analyses Russia's new FP during Putin’s third period from 2012 to 2018 through using Snyder's Decision-Making Approach. There were many significant political events occurred during that period, and the international political landscape has been changed. Russia was able to play a crucial role on the regional and international levels of world politics; besides, its actions could be seen directly opposing the West states. Since this thesis is analyzing the Russian FP during Putin's third term using Snyder's Approach, the area has not previously been investigated. By applying Snyder's approach, this study attempts to explore and analyze the changes in the principles of the new Russian FP in the Putin’s third term (2012-2018) and the extent of his success in bringing about changes in Russian FP regionally and internationally. This research employes a qualitative method based on the previous literature pertaining to the topic of the research. The main findings of this study conclude "Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation in 2013" and the "Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation in 2016," which are two key concepts, that dominate Russia's perspective on international affairs to clarify the point that Russia has presented both concepts during the same presidential term, signaling a substantial shift in its FP. Moreover, due to the events such as the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the military intervention in Syria 2015, Russian position has been changed internationally and altered Russia's status as a significant global actor. Besides, to understand Russia's intentions and the effects of its actions throughout this time, the thesis employes Snyder's Approach. This important approach in foreign policy analysis focuses on the interaction of individual and collective elements in determining FP as well as applying on Russian FP during Putin's third presidential term. Finally, this thesis proposes several suggestions to politicians and further researches.