Constructivism and Russia’s foreign policy in the Caspian Sea region

Speaker
Aidana Arynbek

Eurasian Research Institute invites to participate in the seminar titled “Constructivism and Russia’s foreign policy in the Caspian Sea region” which will be given by Junior Research Fellow of the Eurasian Research Institute, Arynbek Aidana. This seminar attempts to offer an alternative to the explanation of the politics of great powers in Caspian politics. Since many researchers have analyzed the politics of great powers in the region with the focus on materialism, this paper attempts to bring a sociological inquiry in analyzing inter-state behavior.

The constructivist concept of Alexander Wendt will be applied to analyze Russia’s relation with The United States, China and Iran; the main argument is emphasis on the power of ideational forces over material ones. The understanding of identity answers the question of how Russia came about to follow different actions in relation to Iran and China in contrast to The United States.