Russia's self-image as a great power1

Abstract

There seems to be a consensus on certain narratives that dominate a country’s biographical discourse. In the case of Russia, it is its self-perception as a great power. This self-perception as a great power is one of the fundamental aspects of Russia’s identity and its sense of ontological security. Indeed, the great power narrative ties together ontological and physical security in the country’s history. Historically, Russia’s identity and sense of ontological security were constructed in response to its physical security needs. This unconscious ontological awareness on the part of Russian leaders made addressing physical security needs contingent upon the continuity of the country’s biographical narrative of being a great power. Such a dependency constitutes an “ontological trap” that, at times, dictates Russia’s foreign policy choices and threatens its physical security. As Stephen Kotkin notes, Putin’s foreign policy stance is less a reaction to external pressures and more a recurrent pattern driven by internal factors – embedded routines of the country’s ontological security.