Containment, again: a long-term perspective on recent Russian claims.

AuthorRenouard, Joseph

Veteran Russia-watchers have grown accustomed to President Vladimir Putin's broadsides against the West. Not only has he routinely condemned the United States and the European Union for interfering in Ukrainian affairs, but in suggesting that the crisis in Ukraine stems from an unceasing Western desire to stifle Russian ambitions, he has also adhered to a provocative point of historical context. In short, he has accused the West of containment.

"The policy of containment was not invented yesterday," Putin declared in December. "It has been carried out against our country for many years, always, for decades, if not centuries.... Whenever someone thinks that Russia has become too strong or independent, these tools are quickly put into use." (i) More recently, he charged NATO member states with using the Ukrainian military as a "foreign legion" in pursuit of Russia's "geopolitical containment." (ii) Most Americans are likely to conclude that this is simply Kremlin propaganda--a cynical smokescreen aimed at maintaining domestic political power, expanding hegemonic influence in Ukraine, and channeling public anger at imagined foreign enemies. And indeed, jibes at Washington have been among the regime's most consistent rhetorical themes. As Putin told the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation a few months ago, "Our American friends ... are always influencing Russia's relations with its neighbors, either openly or behind the scenes. Sometimes it is even unclear whom to talk to: to the governments of certain countries or directly with their American patrons and sponsors." (iii)

Even if the U.S. is not pulling as many strings in Ukraine as Moscow claims, the charge of American culpability has a powerful appeal. To be clear, Putin's assertions are not just the self-interested ravings of Russia's political elites; many ordinary citizens believe them, too. A recent poll by the independent Levada Center finds that more than eighty percent of Russians have a negative view of the U.S., the highest proportion since the center began such studies in 1988. (iv) In the near term, low oil prices and ongoing sanctions may only strengthen these sentiments and indirectly bolster the Kremlin's claim that America and the West seek to isolate Russia.

Russian nationalists' "containment" claim is highly flawed, but we ignore its popularity at our own peril. It matters for two reasons. First, the perception of outside meddling fuels much anti-Americanism, which in...

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