Origins of the Russo-Ukrainian War: Russian Imperialism in the Authoritarian Regime
Origins of the Russo-Ukrainian War: Russian Imperialism in the Authoritarian Regime

Summary/Abstract: A wide range of arguments has been advanced to explain the onset of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine in February 2014 and, in particular, Russia’s multifront invasion launched in February 2022. The West’s policy toward the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been framed as an incentive for Russian military intervention in Eastern Europe. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine can also be attributed to the West’s policy of appeasement in response to Russia’s occupation of parts of Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014). Another argument is that Vladimir Putin, the aging autocrat beset with multiple governance failures, is bent on subverting democratic processes in the neighboring country. Furthermore, Russia’s longing for the reinstatement of its great power status in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse underpins the incumbent’s fixation on the political, socioeconomic, and cultural domination in the region. However, the roots of Russia’s bellicose foreign policy lie in the persistence of the Russian imperial mentality among politicians of different stripes, and the widespread appeal of imperial narratives within the Russian populace. In addition, the entrenchment of authoritarianism under Putin’s presidency provided favorable conditions for the pursuit of Russian imperialism through conventional warfare.

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