A new “gathering of Russian lands”: Russia’s return to imperialism

Abstract

This article looks at the contemporary rebuilding of the sphere of influence of the Russian Federation, which covers the area of the so-called “near abroad”. The choice of the tactics results from the possible influence of the Russian state in this area. Thus, in addition to using the techniques of the so-called soft power, the catalogue includes primarily those activities that enable Russian decision-makers to manage conflict. The process of ‘claiming Russian land back’, initiated since the collapse of the bipolar system, should be interpreted as a political imperative to return to imperial politics. The instruments for their implementation were both traditionally understood leadership in the world, when the fate of all states and nations was decided by the greatest powers, to which Russia belonged from the first half of the nineteenth century. Another very effective tool for restoring the status quo ante of the ‘Russian empire’ turned out to be the ancient Roman strategy of divide et impera, an approach that has made it possible, from the very beginning, for the Russian Federation to strive to restore its hegemonic position in the territory of the countries that once formed the Soviet Union with it. The inability to impose sovereignty by such a soft influence or to inspire and extinguish potential conflicts has led to the armed assertion of its rights by Russia. Consequently, the policy adopted by Russian decision-makers may not only cause an armed conflict on a large European scale, but also other artificially induced cataclysms, difficult to predict, the consequences of which will have to be handled by the future generations.