Description
Current instances of the United Nations’ powerlessness in the face of military conflict and escalation put into relief the inherent limitations and contradictions of post-WW II multilateralism and the close entanglement, if not means-end relationship of violence and peace (however understood). This paper aims to explore this entanglement in the case of the Soviet Union from a historicising perspective on international politics. Building on Cold War history and IR research, it seeks to show how the country’s foreign policy thinking and practice was related to certain theories of social change and world revolution which foregrounded particular measures and strategies. Thus, while hitherto research has focused on logics of mutual deterrence and escalation as driver of aggressive foreign policy, this analysis seeks to unpack the conceptual grounding of the Soviet international engagement, including international institutions, development aid, political influence-mongering and intelligence and military intervention. The analysis draws on coverage from various Soviet newspapers and international politics scholarship from selected periods. Within the panel, the paper thus provides a perspective on the role of deinstitutionalisation and side-lining of institutions, and particularly of the United Nations, in the process of their constitution and establishment under active support of the Soviets.
