UDC

[94(470)+94(73)]:327

DOI

10.37482/2687-1505-V255

Authors

Vladimir Yu. Luk’yanov
Saint-Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation;
ul. Bol’shaya Morskaya 67, St. Petersburg, 190000, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9559-1733 e-mail: Volodya.luckyanov2017@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article analyses the problem of the so-called failed state in modern international relations. The failed state problem is considered here as one of the most important factors influencing geopolitics today. The paper provides a brief overview of studies into this issue and elaborates on the role of the failed state in the foreign policies of Russia and the United States at the present stage. The high level of tension in the US–Russia relations is pointed out; the use of failed states by the two parties as a tool for achieving their geopolitical goals is analysed. The problem is considered in a historical and political retrospective, from the Cold War period to the present day. In the foreign policy of the USA in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the failed state factor was used to support the country’s claim for global dominance after the collapse of the bipolar system of international relations and for the right to conduct military operations regardless of the stance of the global community and the United Nations. In the case of Russia, the paper demonstrates the importance of the failed state factor in the country’s foreign policy on the post-Soviet states, primarily when it comes to the political crises in Ukraine. The author concludes that the problem is largely contrived, while failed states are being used primarily as a foreign policy tool by the key geopolitical actors. Lastly, the author suggests ways to solve this problem in the current geopolitical situation, especially in the context of the foreign policies of Russia and the USA.

Keywords

failed state, foreign policy of Russia, foreign policy of the USA, post-Soviet states, Ukrainian political crisis

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