German Policy through the Lens of Russian Mainstream Thinking

Abstract

The article explores the way in which German policies are portrayed in the Russian mainstream narrative. It concentrates on the ‘real sovereignty’ theory, which seems to have captured the mainstream thinking of world politics in Russia. Three aspects of this theory are discussed: first, whether it withstands the test of the Ukraine crisis; second, whether it can provide the Russian political establishment with an appropriate explanation of the current state of relations with Germany, at its lowest since reunification; and finally, if it gives the Russian political establishment a pretext to believe that the strategic partnership is not terminated but only temporarily suspended. The mainstream Russian narrative provides grounds for Moscow to believe that a strategic partnership with Germany is still feasible. However, the underlying purposes of such a partnership, as seen in Berlin and Moscow, are rather different and can hardly be reconciled.