The History Behind Russia's Expansionary Foreign Policy with Stephen Kotkin | Policy Stories
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2024
- Is Russia inherently imperialist and expansionist? Russia wasn’t forced to invade Ukraine, but its leaders chose to do so because they want Russia to become a great power. If Russian elites could somehow relinquish their unwinnable competition with the West, they could set their country on a less costly and more promising course.
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Additional resources:
Read “Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics: Putin Returns to the Historical Pattern,” by Stephen Kotkin via Foreign Affairs. Available here: www.foreignaffairs.com/articl....
Read “Weakness and Grandeur,” by Stephen Kotkin. Available here: www.hoover.org/research/weakn....
Watch or listen to “Pesci-ent Knowledge: Stephen Kotkin On Xi’s China, Putin’s Russia,” on GoodFellows. Available here: www.hoover.org/research/pesci....
Watch “Why Putin Invaded Ukraine,” with Michael McFaul. Available here: www.policyed.org/policy-stori....
Watch “Second Fronts in Great-Power Conflicts,” on PolicyEd. Available here: www.policyed.org/unarchived/s....
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In other words, Russia needs to grow up.
No usa needs it
..........like Britex UK. 😏 (And a few others)
Maybe it is Mr Kotkin who has to grow up?
grow within not without
Russia just has to get over its inferior complex
100% right. Joe Pesci is the best commentator on Russia. He really gets it.
At least Kotkin understands Russia. There are bunch of "talking heads" who have no idea what Russia is.
Concise and incisive! Thanks.
He is simply the BEST!
Great historical wisdom from Stephen Kotkin
Stephen Kotkin is great! I recommend to check his chat with Lex Fridmann.
One of the more informative, useful lectures on Russia and its place in geopolitics.
He did three great lectures in Austria that are on youtube.
I love playing Russia in computer games. Every direction is an enemy.
I support US/NATO. But I might borrow your quote.
From living with a Russian partner (who knows what a malignant force Putin is), after 10 years I have come to understand the Russian mentality. Great analysis by Kotkin. Spot on!
What a fine exposition of a complicated topic ~ well done Stephen
I fully agree.
Excellent analysis.
I try not to be arrogant and one-sided in my views, but I wonder how many of the many thousands of viewers thus far understood the details of what Mr Kotkin is saying. Not listened to them - but understood them.
I grew up in Stalin's shadow and in Russia's reach. The man is exactly right. That's not a solution, but it's a start.
Worth catching up with Alex Stubb and Vlad Vexler. Along with Kotkin they cover the bases as regards the Russian problem. They are excellent analysts and communicators. We should listen with great care in the free world.
Coopoy, I would also recommend Prof. Snyder for insights into Russia's actions. His course on The Making Of Modern Ukraine was extremely interesting, it can be found here: ruclips.net/video/bJczLlwp-d8/видео.html - this is a semester long course and well worth the time.
Good call Rick.
@@rickemmet1104 I’ll second that nomination for Snyder and his course on Ukrainian history.
Stubb is a CIA propaganda stooge. Well, on the other hand, if u looking for propaganda then why not
Yep, and Brit journalist Peter Hitchens (Christopher's brother), is also a keen observer of Russian history & culture. For example he has noted that the Russian word for 'safety' is a negative word meaning 'without danger'... _"where danger is the default position in a country that's been invaded by the French, the Poles, the Golden Horde, the Swedes, the Germans, and the Germans..."_
Excellent 👍 thank you !
My favorite mind, my favorite speaker... I am reading his first of three Books on Stalin: "Stalin, Volume I: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928" and when the Third Volume is published this year I am sure it will win the Pulitzer Prize. Find any of his interviews on RUclips and enjoy his knowledge, his humor and his courteous approach to teaching us about Russian history, Eurasia and geopolitics.
Read Michael Parenti instead of this clown paid to lie to you.
Important presentation indeed!
Great video and advice
Peter the Great turned to Western Europe to modernize the country and the military. He was quite successful on all his borders. He built St Petersburg to increase trade with Europe.
... at huge human cost and without really changing the worldview or principles the nation lived by.
Also, adopting Capitalism revived Russia, another example of turning to the west.
If only the Russians would just listen when we tell them putting liberty above the state will make them a better country too.
B A Excellent point. I would also just add that Peter was a complete despot, not a recipe for any enduring process of modernization.
and his reward for attempting to integrate into Europe was attempted invasion by France.
Fascinating library's worth of knowledge.
Thanks .
VERY WELL SAID
If you are a big country surrounded by smaller countries, there is a certain compulsion.
It's an empire, and it will disintegrate.
good analysis
I wish a Russian elite would accept the goal you advise: not trying to be a super power, but a healthy power like present day Germany, France, Britain, Japan, The Netherlands ...
To become “normal” USA-occupied protectorates like Germany and Japan? To have USA-approved president schooled before elections on the American military base like France? Normalcy, U say:)
Exactly. At the end of the day, it's the prosperity of the people that matters, not some Imperial pissing match.
All of those are american pupets.
I dont want my country to be like those.
The problems have become obvious and deadly....find the "management"....
great job summarising all your studies!
Tx Kotkin
A vignette!
Kotkin is right that it is a choice…but why do they always seem to make the same choice? Not sure I agree that it isn’t innate to the culture if it always goes back to old habit s
@Mr Nice Guy It is " abnormal " the way they tend to go back in cycles, repeating themselves to the minimal detail stamped on their failed previous attempts.
You are absolutely right on your assertion.
They have historically had this mentiality for hundreds of years, and whenever they seek inspiration for revitalizing the country, they refer to their history.
Your question is a consequence of your poor education. Russia is not something special and unique, it is simply backward. All those processes that are happening now in Russia took place earlier in more developed countries. As befits a poorly educated person, you are not familiar with literature. Otherwise, you would have read the book "18 Brumaire Louis Bonaparte" and you would be surprised to find that this book describes not only the political processes of France in the 19th century, but also Russia in the 21st century.
@@michaeldelisieux Rather, we have here the case of "Hand washes hand" or when one ignoramus supports the ignorance of another ignoramus "yes, yes, you were right!".
You are 100% right. I wonder why Kotkin does not see it. He is a very knowledgeable person.
Visionary
western imperialist propagandist more like...
If you do not have a (strategic) choice, how then can it be a choice?
screw their policy. I have a policy to be a billionaire by the time I'm 40 but I don't destroy my neighbors for it.
Compare that to the expansion of the USA or Great Britain? Where is the difference?
Indeed, imagine Britain wanted to conquer their former colonies again, like say, reconquer India. That is what Russia is doing in Ukraine
Many countries have an aggressive and imperialist past but Russia has an aggressive present
the difference is that the US and the UK always had better economic systems, political models, strong institutions, check and balances among powers, rule of law and the quality of life of most of their citizens is good...
the west didnt need a "strong leader" to put his face everywhere and obey him until he dies..
the law was and still is above all individuals who are in charge..
this is why they ruled and still rule the world or at least most of it...
Russia is still primitive compared to the west.
For one thing, USA and UK didn't have leaders that clung to power by murdering, poisoning and imprisoning the political competition. That indicates the level of fairness in the relative systems, or lack thereof.
Yes, one only needs to look at a map.
Russia is a true mystery to those who live outside the borders of Russia, few understand Russia, but I have found in listening to and reading Stephen Kotkin someone who can tell Russia's story very much like Solzhenitsyn without having experiencing the Gulag system.
I assure you, inside the borders of Russia there are just as many fools who are not aware of the essence of the processes taking place with Russia. Even such an elementary truth that a political reaction is taking place in Russia is something like a scientific discovery.
Stephen F. Cohen is very good.
His bloodline instituted deadly communism in Russian Empire. Now he’s sitting here, still hoping to butcher Russians.
Thats pure orientalism. In fact, Russia, Russian popular worldview, ideology and state policy are very much comprehensible if you simply see it as a country that didnt undergo the Renaissance or Enlightenment and his always about 150 years behind mentally.
Russia is completely understandable if you know history. Ever since Peter the Great, Russia has been attempting to become part of Europe. It has also been endlessly invaded by European and Asian powers.
True that, a 100% true that steaven kotkin is the canary of the coal mine which our times call for.
Well he is sorting out past events, isn't he? Not making predictions.
All very true. But WHEN will we get Volume III of "Stalin"?!
i was just about to say the uk was pretty open about the collapse of our empires, which was the greatest. i dont say this as a brag but as evidence its possible to manage the decline. the present decline of the UK as a power is just pure miss management but our soft power rules now, whereas Russia has nothing to offer culturally.
People talk about the 'collapse' of the British Empire, but it was more of a winding down as the various territories matured and developed. Obviously it at a certain point it didn't make sense for Canada, Australia and India, etc. to be run from London. 'Collapse' implies a failure, but the Empire was in fact quite successful.
Oh yes.
How could be a country with a GDP lesser than Italy GDP imperialist?
This monologue felt like a father talking about a very problematic child
Putin is acting like a very problematic child who happens to have an army.
Is it time for a new-style Treaty of Westphalia to bring to a close today's calamitous period in European history? Perhaps it would give Russia both the recognition it craves and the security it wants.
But the security is there. Nobody wants to invade Russia in the west. We tried peaceful associations with them trough trade. They refused this peaceful cooperation. It are their neighbors who need security garantees against Russia
I agree. It's time the West started treating Russia with respect and diplomatic instead of always acting like they're the villain, If you treat someone like a villain, then they will act like a villain, But if you treat someone with respect, then most of the time, they will return the respect to you. BTW, Happy New Years
@@maxsportsman2416 Russia is behaving like a villain hence the treatment as a villain. As to respect if Russia respected its neighbors as peers and not as breakout states that need to be brought back into the fold of mother then perhaps its neighbors and more broadly the West would be more incline to respect to respect. Right now when I think of Russia I think of the brutality and savagery they brought the Chechnya in both wars, the genocide they carried out against Georgians in South Ossetia, the senseless slaughter in Syria and now their idiotic, imbecilic, illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine none of these actions inspire respect. Since 1990 Russia has produced 4 Nobel prize winners, Canada my home country has produced 11and Japan has produced 19 perhaps they should focus on investment in education over the military.
The more Russia changes over the centuries, the more it stays the same: a post-Mongol autocratic state which is aggressively expansionist towards its neighbors.
Kotkin has spoken. Dr. Kotkin, how can I get an English copy of Socialism In One Country?
Dear Prof. Kotkin: How about China?
I think you mixed it up with Nato expansion eastwards to Rusdsias border, be honest
This is an excellent description, but doesn't really tell us why the Russians always want a strong man.
Sure it does. Russia wants national strength which it doesn't hve organically, through the natural growth of it's own culture and economy. It tries to bypass that lack by resort to state power, and that state power overreach becomes one man, autocratic rule as Russia keeps struggling for that which it can't get and keep any other way.
The United States is has had far greater power than Russia, and far more defensible borders. The United States didn't NEED the ambitions for world power that Russia developed.
Despite this, the United States has become the American World Empire and now feels insecure and that it must dispute Ukraine with Russia on Russia's border and Taiwan on China's border.
The really BIG question is what to do about the ambitions for world empire of the United States! Are there NO limits? Can the United States NEVER be satisfied?
Interesting. I look forward to your next video entitled 'The History Behind the USA's Expansionary Foreign Policy'.
What a disgusting, dishonest moral equivalence.
Another attempt at whataboutism?
Kotkin presents the subject he specialises in.
Others may study and explain American geopolitics.
Trying to somehow justify crimes and mistakes of one country with the crimes and mistakes of another is neither useful nor ethical.
@@j.calvert3361 good reply to a Russian troll.
I can’t help but hear Joe Pesci every time this man speaks. I think he is funny
BRICS?
Wouldn`t making another choice imply that Russia simply had to trust the USA not to use military or economic power to exert influence in regions far away from Washington, but quite close to Moscow? What if Russia doesn`t choose to make that choice? Does Russia have to be subdued like Germany was, i. e. in World War III? Do not we also have a choice?
The last 10 years at least the US interest had shifted to East Asia and the Pacific.
Involvement in Europe was being reduced.
Russia has been obsessed with the idea that the USA is somehow competing against them, which simply wasn't true anymore.
Russia would exert much more influence on its neighbourhood if it used its huge resources to create attraction by wealth, by developing its own economy and society.
But, regrettably, that option was rejected and destroyed for the coming decades.
Russian leadership is far more antagonistic to the USA than vice-versa. No one is trying to 'subdue' Russia, just expect them to do business normally and not illegally invade neighbours.
1:27 wise listening Eric until he's about to tell you about the free market but he's actually going to pretend it's real
The country that creates an intelligent A.I Will rule the world
I have simplified politics in this way: China wants respect; Russia wants money/power; the United States wants love.
Simple answer: Yes! It is aggressive and imperialist. It is lost in the past with an incredible arrogance.
Incredible arrogance isn’t only American prerogative
I believe the diagnosis for Muscovite political culture is “malignant narcissism”
And ur narcissism is certainly benign ?
Or it’s just cancer.
You know nothing of Muscovite political culture.
Although I understand and appreciate Mr. Stephen Kotkin's specialty on Stalin, I feel like this extent of knowledge greatly influencing/limiting his view on greater picture. Some of the arguements he makes in this video feel more like reverse causation - such as western superiority, which was very debatable when Russia first came to entity in the Middle Ages. Hell, Golden Horde once pressed greater threat to Russia than any other western powers, if we can define these then political entities in western Europe as "powers!" This feels more like a fixated prejudice, rather than a objective presentation.
5:00 as the spanish empire fell against an in theory weaker british empire at the moment, throuh alliances , same can happen to US.
Time will tell, but democracy(I mean universal vote, US expanded when only a few had the right to vote, it wasan oligarchy or aristocracy in essencd) or liberalism are not the key elements.
Can you do the same video but about usa 😂
THAT certainly needs to be done! A hundred years ago the United States had the most secure position of any country in the world. Today we imagine that our security rests with defeating Russia in Ukraine and China in Taiwan! How nutty is THAT?
Listen to John Mearsheimer, Stephen Cohen, Henry Kissinger - totally different view!!!
Exactly. Can't stand Kotkin outside of his writings on Stalin.
Indeed, like always Kissinger finds himself on the right side of history. (Joke)
Finally!
Measheimer, different yes. But totally wrong.
Ivan the terrible wasn’t Russian , even Peter the Great hardly was .
A chronic problem for russia has always been a lack of warm water ports, but rather than seek alliances with it's coastal neighbours that could be beneficial for both parties, russia has always sought to conquer and take what it feels should rightly belong to them. So profoundly delusional
Isn't that the USA?
who would they conquer? Any ports leading to the Indian Ocean are too far to utilize effectively or economically.
The Kerch Bridge is Falling Down, Falling down, Falling down. Good bye Kerch Bridge
Childish. Past your bedtime
This all comes down to jealousy. Russia considers itself part of Europe but they always fell behind Europe but many generations. They are trying to overcompensate for their shortcomings.
Tell that to the US vis a vis China
。。。Is Russia a rational power maximizer?
I have an answer. It is very ... Realistic.
Algorithm.
Western Europe attempts again and again to overcome Russia, but Kokin seems to overlook that fact.
Propaganda for Propaganda's sake?
Hmm... the US has 900 bases around the world... Russia has 1.
Ok if they would 've invade without being provoked but how can you ignore the Revolution in Ukraine 2014 with neo Nazy in Power , donbass and Nato expantion ?
Stephen can I ask a question, What do you think would happen if Ukraine took the war to Russia, to bomb their cities with missiles and drones. Would Russia then realize the cost was too high, especially the population at large and sue for peace or would it lead to a catastropic escalation? Thank you
And American aggression?
Kotkin is one of my favorite historians. When he's done with Stalin 3, I wish he'd write on the CCP's evolution and their threat to the West. He is an expert on China too. I wish he'd answer the question: Is China showing the world that capitalism doesn't need Democracy?
Professor Kotkin...i beg you, for the love of God, drill some enlightenment into Professor Mearsheimer and his simplistic argument that completely omits historical analysis and individual leader characteristics.
2:48 - 3:05 I would have to disagree as historically Western nations *have* , in fact, used border nations as springboards for invasion of Russia. Look at Operation Barbarossa in more recent history, and the many different wars between Russia and various Western and Nordic nations.
But overall a good analysis of historic Russian foreign policy. A good look into the choices Russia makes can be found in Caspian Reports video, "Understanding The Russian Mindset"
Russia created the conditions for the German invasion of 1941 by helping with the defeat of Poland.
in other words we're all screwed
managing the Russian problem by inviting Ukraine to join NATO I guess was an imbecilic idea.
It was rather wise idea - Russians stuck in Ukraine, like their predecessors in Afghanistan.
If Europe and Russia were succotash and economically working together, America and China would be proportionally less powerful. But also Europe, Russia, China and America would be richer and more peaceful. Every body would win esp. Russia
Pretty wild for an American to wonder if Russia is inherently imperialist. Look in the mirror.
Russians are in a similar mindset to England a couple of centuries ago but without the ability.
Most societies have moved on from 200 years ago. They abolished slavery and allowed ordinary men and women rights for a start.
Is Russia inherently imperialist and expansionist? I dunno, take a look at their borders.
Large swathes of uninhabited buffer territory, client states bordering those massive boundaries, yeah I think by its own self (not including current policy) you could classify Russia as both imperialist and expansionist.
Which country has military bases spread worldwide. Not Russia. America.
Just like the USA
He talks like a robot.
Joe Pesci without the humour
As a longtime Kotkin fan, I must complain that y'all are making him look too fine here. This level of devastating good looks, combined with his intellect, is producing a below-the-neck response.
IS US aggression innate ? Yes out of 250 years US have been at peace only for 2 years and its not straight 2 years but a cumulative sum of days and it is all for Resources that US need to keep it economy going as its version of "capitalism" dose not work with out cheap resources from outside.
Blablabla
Expansion does not stop with Ukraine. The Putin argument for military expansion/occupation only makes sense if The West and Nato are crushed and America hegemonic power is severely truncated. Putin used the same argument for Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine. Putin can use the same argument against of Europe and the Slavic countries if Ukraine falls, since he will see it as proof of the Russian right to do so.
If first you aspire to be great, try building infrastructure instead of tanks and guns. Good advice, but the really big problem Russia has is that it is just really big. Most red states in the US could never afford to build their own highways. Same problem in Russia, just much, much bigger. Even John C. Calhoun figured this one out as he watched New England prosper and the widely spaced plantations of the south struggle and continually fail to make the south a financial success. The south was always poverty stricken and unable to even afford sufficient schools and libraries.
Canada is also very large and sparsely populated. But effective infrastructure was developed, and the result is a GDP greater than Russia's with population 1/4 the size.
Russian elites have long subscribed to the belief that they are “living in a providential country with a special mission in the world”. This is exactly what the US from its earliest days has thought and continues (to some degree though not quite to the same extent as in earlier decades) to think. We meddle in others affairs; they similarly do so. It is time that nations once again develop capabilities to defend against undue foreign influence.
Are you really equating the USA with Russia ? Lots of countries consider themselves special or providential but Russia is now alone in Europe that chooses to invade a neighbor for no other reason than to preserve the dictatorship of the current Russian ruler.
You are describing nearly EVERY nations ambitions, control or at least highly influence your neighbors. Korea, China, Germany... The question is: when you fail to influence or control your neighbor what is your response. Say that your neighbor is not really a country, does not deserve to be and invade with full intention of ANNEXING IT!!! I'm not pretending West is righteous -but you are obviously not a Ukrainian. Think what you might do if a neighbor country invaded, intending to absorb/annex your land.
the major fault of your reasoning is that America is very rich, very powerful and has a lot of allies of similar caliber; Russia has none of these attributes.
@@pwp8737 They don't like us as much as they tolerate us and our arrogance. I wouldn't bank on our allies marching to our drumbeat for too long.
You’re absolutely right. The difference is in ideology. Enlightenment (Locke, Montesquieu, Jefferson) vs. Middle Ages (witchcraft, torture).
1:20 western unity a.k.a US dominance on west europe.
Of course it's a choice, but the choice is always expansion, at a neighbor's cost. The facts speak for themselves. Russia is an aggressive, imperialist, brutal power and has been for centuries.
The thing is: all Western countries were. Remember colonialism. Germany. Napoleon. Sooner or later Russia will change. We all did.
@@Claude_van I don't think Russia will follow that path . They think of themselves differentley . There was unipolar moment after cold war , Russia accepted its role then. But here we now
@@Claude_van where you changed , now also west colonising the world , this time they eyeing for Slavs and you must know what happen to woodpecker when he hit his beak on banana tree, there's no return and USA is very likely to have that moment in their history
Russia is like Europe's misbehaving little brother. The black sheep of the family, who drinks, fights and always gets into trouble. Sometimes he disappears for weeks, moths them suddenly appears, beat up someone in the family before going out again... but we love him anyways, cause you know. Family
No one loves that brother😢
Since 1990, in fact Russia has receded a lot. Some people are disingenuous, with their gullible followers.
It was the Soviet Union that receded, not Russia.
@@trzbebop6755 not everyone appeared to be educated enough to grasp this basic fact.
@@trzbebop6755 I think Tsarist Russia included some of the Baltics.
But my whole life as a capitalist pig, I was conditioned and programmed to invade and conquer Russian women. Oh my, the dreams of dominating and pillaging rural villages in Siberia. Everyone I know wants to emigrate to Russia, the best food and babushkas in the world.
Excellent summary of a historical problem that Russia has been facing for centuries. The key component in this mentality is the fact that Russia was dominated for several centuries by the Golden Horde. The mongols defined the Russian concept of power and state, all is based in fear and brutal abuse of a population that is deprived of all individual rights.
Well the exactly the same thing can be said to US and NATO with about 4 times the magnitude.
Ähm, no.
@@markusw.2690 Yes
Actually it can’t. NATO is a voluntary defensive alliance nations want to be in.
People have all kinds of bizarre ideas about NATO - for instance, that NATO was responsible for Iraq. Nope. There were NATO countries in Iraq, but it was not a NATO operation.
Also, every country that's joined NATO did so voluntarily - indeed, pretty much all of them begged to be part of it.
Wu, could you name the wars that NATO waged or participated as an organisation?
Russia has historically had some bad ass engineers and physicists. I hope they all left..I'd love to see an American made Sukhoi.
Yeah Russia should surrender the Black Sea what could go wrong
Stephen Kotkin is a case in point about a historian who only knows the past but unable to use that knowledge to prepare for the future because Kotkin doesn't have the knowledge of the 21st century world politics.
He's been programed by Princeton to tow the party line.
This is nonsense from a celebrated author of books on the Soviet Union. He is wrong about Russia's failures. Russia has been challenged several times by the west, though it has looked to emulate the west and to be included, until now. After much patience since the end of the USSR, the Russian Federation under Pres Vladimir Putin has been compelled by western aggressiveness to realize that its future lies in Asia and not in Europe. Following that new course, it is succeeding geopolitically, in terms of its security, and economically, in terms of its independence and development.
By its anti-Russian sanctions, acts of vandalism, and proxy war in Ukraine, the west has done great harm to itself. Europe has cut itself off from its cheapest and most dependable source of energy and has tolerated the vandalism of its own infrastructure in an action by the USA, as reliably reported. Inflation is rampant. Russia has joined with other countries that are threatened by the west and especially by the USA to form new and vital geopolitical polarities that reshape the realpolitik of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Most importantly, the petrodollar as the financila prop for US military-imperialism has been been removed.
From my view, as an American who wants an end to his country's post WW2 history of international bloodshed and destruction, the multi-polar world ushered in by the Russo/Chinese accords (are) is welcome. The martial foreign policy of my country cannot continue when financed by a US dollar that other countries will no longer need.
he's a man paid by warmongers to be a warmonger.
we have been fighting the barbaric orient for the centuries , we Litwins know the drill ... "Let us begin with this evident fact: Muscovy does not belong at all to Europe, but to Asia. It follows that judging Muscovy and the Muscovites by our European standards is a mistake to be avoided."-gonzague de reynold, 19501 In methodological terms, one should de-Europeanise any analysis of Muscovy policy.- thomas gomart, 20062 "