| Summary/Abstract |
By the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the Russian foreign
policy discourse had transformed from hard-headed “sober realism” into
bizarre “values-obsessed realism.” The texts of Russia’s official strategies
now appeal to such aspects of political identity as “spiritual values,”
“cultural (civilizational) code,” “historical truth,” etc. Such appeals,
coupled with almost eschatological rhetoric, are not uncommon in official
speeches of the country’s political leadership. But this shift in political
discourse cannot be explained just by the reaction to the changes in the
international situation after the incorporation of Crimea into Russia.
The author suggests that the reason is a change in the political leader’s
mindset after staying in power for such a long time. As his powers get
extended, almost any political leader begins to think in “historical”
and “global” categories, viewing personnel unchangeability not as
vulnerability, but, on the contrary, as proof of unique “stability” and
“governability.”
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