Rusya’nın 2000 Sonrası ‘Geniş Karadeniz’ Politikasının Savunmacı Realist Bakışla Analizi
An Analysis of the Post 2000 ‘Wider Black Sea’ Policy of Russia Through a Defensive Realist Perspective

Summary/Abstract: Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia spent the its first ten years as an independent country dealing with its many multidimensional domestic problems and restructuring the state. When Putin came to power in 2000, a new period began, together with an eye-catching foreign policy. The Russian military intervention in Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014 alongside subsequent developments have all fueled discussions in academic circles about Russia's foreign policy. The dominant point of view in these debates – especially in Western countries – argues that Russia is a revisionist state that seeks to revamp its former glory, maximize its power, and becoming a regional hegemon throughout the Wider Black Sea. Another approach argues that Russia tends to seek sufficient power due to the perceived security threats to its very survival hailing from the West (especially from the USA and NATO), and that it is trying to maintain in status quo within its immediate environs. In terms of international relations theories about foreign policy behaviour, the first group overlaps with the assumptions of offensive realism, while the second group overlaps with defensive realism. This article will analyze Russia’s foreign policy towards the Wider Black Sea through the lens of defensive realism.

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