The Russian Federation, the United States, and International Order as a Social Construct
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, THE UNITED STATES, AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

Summary/Abstract: To what extent are we justified in speaking of Soviet/Russian and US politicalleaders, qua sentient beings, as ‘conscious of certain common interests and commonvalues, [thereby] form[ing] [international] society in the sense that they conceivethemselves to be bound by a common set of [principles, norms and] rules in theirrelations with one another, and share in the workings of common institutions’?To what extent have the respective political leaderships conceived of their statesas great powers encumbered with the burden of maintaining international orderand the very existence of the international society? Building on English Schooltheorizing and constructivist methodology, I answer these questions by advancetwo principal claims: first, the historical record demonstrates that the two states’political leaderships are presently – and were in the past – ‘conscious of certaincommon interests[,] common values’, common principles, norms and rules, and‘share in the workings of common institutions’ so as to maintain the ‘pattern ordisposition of international activity that sustains [the] goals of the society of states’.And second, the political leaderships have conceived of their respective states asgreat powers indispensable to the maintenance of international order, stability, andthe very existence of international society.

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