Description
Since the end of the Cold War the relationship between the UK and Russia has been largely neglected in foreign policy scholarship. In contrast, in the last decade, and particularly since the start of the war against Ukraine, UK policy discussions of Russia have proliferated, but discussions are largely concerned with military and or ‘grey zone’ threats. Several key areas remain under-explored in both policy and scholarly contexts, including the roles of oligarch money and Russian governmental influence in UK political life. This paper examines the silences in academic and public UK discourse on the UK-Russia relationship since the turn of the century. It argues that the academic incuriousity about Russia is a reflection of a wider post-Cold War disengagement from the study of Russia and the decline of Russia-related expertise and interest in Western (in this case, UK) policy and scholarly communities. It suggests that the relationship between knowledge production and policymaking has contributed to the absence of focus on Russia. It argues that the failure to ask difficult questions about Russia in policymaking contexts or to ask almost any questions about UK-Russia relations in the academic community has significantly limited understanding of the challenges Russia poses for the UK and for wider European security.
