Description
Since the mid of the nineties, fostering the plurality in the world order has been a strategy for Russia to recover the prestige lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union and then, preserve its role as a major power on the international scene. From that moment on, the idea of pursuing an international setting where more powers can participate found expression in the concept of multipolarity, which entered the narrative of the Russian leadership, featuring the posture of the country in foreign politics.
Nonetheless, in recent times, another terminology has been introduced in the Russian narrative, namely that of polycentric world order, to describe the necessity of pursuing a greater distribution of power at the international level, which was mostly mentioned during the years of Medvedev’s administration. Experts of Russian foreign politics, however, essentially continued to consider polycentrism almost equivalent to multipolarity, considering both aimed at the international environment where Russia can act on an equal footing with other major powers.Contrary to conventional interpretations, a narrative inquiry instead reveals rather how the notion of polycentric order fit with an increased propensity of the Kremlin to create a fairer and more inclusive environment. This reading of facts is helpful to reconsider the importance of the only change in the leadership that occurred in Russia over that last more than twenty years as a missing opportunity, both for the West and for Russia for establishing a mutually beneficial relationship without stumbling again in recurrent stalemates. In conclusion, the article encourages fresh interpretations about the Russian increasing assertiveness, which has been boosted with the end of the Medvedev presidency, as a result of failed expectations nurtured by the Kremlin’s leadership.
