Description
This paper investigates the evolution of Russian conceptualisations of security under Putin via an in-depth empirical analysis of official foreign and security documentation since 2000. This includes analysis of long-term, medium-term and immediate treatments of security: national security concepts and strategies; strategic documentation in defined priority areas; and the more responsive articulations of the annual addresses of the Russian president to the Federal Assembly. The analysis shows that inconsistencies characterise the Russian political elite’s approach to security. Rhetorical shifts towards ‘softer’, collaborative and individual-centred conceptualisations of security have occurred over time but not been integrated as part of a broader conceptual or strategic approach. The dominant conception of security remains linked to the preservation of state (and regime) interests. Even in doctrine that is not expressly intended to contribute to Russian national identity construction, this conceptualisation of security is supported at every stage by a very specific and restricted notion of Russia’s national identity and of its identity, role and potential for action on the international stage.
