SHOULD WE (STILL) FEAR RUSSIA? THE PARADOX OF THE RUSSIAN POWER
SHOULD WE (STILL) FEAR RUSSIA? THE PARADOX OF THE RUSSIAN POWER

Summary/Abstract: The thesis of this article – whose main topic is about power, perception of power and power of perceptions in international relations – stems from the desire to explore to what extent the power of a state depends on the resources that it holds (power as resources) rather on its ability to change the behavior of others (power as manifestation). This article aims to find an explanation for the so-called paradox of Russian power, translated into the following research question: how does Russia, a regional power in decline (in terms of capabilities) succeed in achieving the desired behavioral results in the current international system? To explain this paradox, the research calls for two different approaches on the concept of power in international relations: power as resources (potential power) and power as outcomes. Power is not just a sum of resources and the resources that a state actor possesses can lead or not to results, effects.

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