Contrary to the narrative in much of politics and academia, Russia’s alienation from the West did not start in 2014 — it is a lasting and inherent phenomenon. Since the mid-1990s, Moscow’s attempts to ‘capture’ the narrative of Europe or even portray itself later on as a ‘better Europe’, transcended in 2014 into a more overt and antithetical approach of strategically juxtaposing Russia versus Europe, or placing ‘Russia being not (declinist and decadent) Europe’, a part of the likewise allegedly declining ‘West’. Russia’s appeal for European ‘self-denial’ does not only find its supporters in Europe, predominantly populist and radical parties, but also contributes to a more general frustration among Europeans regarding their own self-perception, as well provokes Western ambiguity and uncertainty about its responsibility for regional security affairs, particularly in the European neighbourhood.
This article written by Andriy Tyushka and James Rogers is part of the “Defence Strategic Communications” journal, which is an annual, open access, peer-reviewed and refereed journal published by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE), Riga, Latvia.
Find here the full publication.