Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student in International Relations, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, as its successor, gradually began to redefine and reinterpret its identity, national interests and threats to its national security. Meanwhile, relations with the West have always been important to Russia and considered as a challenge in its foreign policy. For nearly three decades, the leaders of the Russian Federation have published a number of strategic documents to represent their identity in the post-Soviet space and to define the roadmap for the country's domestic, foreign, security and military policies. The main question of the article is "What is the position of identity in shaping the security view of the Russian Federation towards the West in post-Cold War era?"In order to find the answer to this question, by using the concept of identity in constructivism theory as well as analyzing the strategic documents published in this country, an attempt has been made to identify and highlight salient and sediment roles –identity of the Russian Federation and determine their role and position in shaping the Russian security view. The main hypothesis of this article is that " role - identities such as being considered as a great world power, a benign hegemon for near abroad countries of Russia (republics segregated from the Soviet Union) and a supporter of Russian-speaking people have had a significant impact on the nature of Russia's security view toward the West and has led to the formation of a threat-oriented view of the West. The present article is based on descriptive-explanatory methodology, and documents and cyberspace resources have been used for the research.
 

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