Russian Military Renaissance: An Unnecessary War

The deep roots of the war between Russia and Ukraine are the firm U.S. conviction that the latter should become a NATO Member State to deter the post-Soviet influence of the former. Proponents of the Russian intervention use various arguments to justify Moscow’s use of force, but their starting point is far from rational. Both political and historical realities in the region prove that the geopolitical choices of minor actors are typically subject to competition among great powers. Throughout their record of confrontation, both the United States and Russia have demonstrated that Eastern Europe is essential for their foreign policy. The purpose of this paper is to assess if the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an expression of _realpolitik. _The arguable position that the Ukrainian conflict is the West’s fault inspires considerable debate among Western scholars who believe that Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance is inevitable. In the article, I argue that the actions of Russia are not an expression of realist foreign policy simply because Putin’s nuclear threats are not rational. Instead, Kremlin’s war embodies a strategic amalgam of what I call military renaissance – the long-term dream of Russia to restore the Soviet Empire to its former spheres of influence. That is why the Cold War strategy of containment will not work.