Abstract
This chapter explores Russian state motivation in the annexation of Crimea, emphasizing historical memory. It examines the public case of Russian President Putin to the Duma in detail. It examines whether the speech to justify the annexation was a merely example of public diplomacy or as the actual motivation for the aggression. In the former, it fits a Russian conception of international law as rights held by nations to protect its population by forming new nations or realizing irredentist claims. In the latter, the need to correct historical injustices driven by emotional responses to crisis through the lens of memory explains the Russian annexation. Through this contrast, it illuminates rationalist and emotionalist perspectives on explaining Russian foreign policy in this crisis.
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Becker, D. (2018). The Rationality and Emotion of Russian Historical Memory: The Case of Crimea. In: Resende, E., Budrytė, D., Buhari-Gulmez, D. (eds) Crisis and Change in Post-Cold War Global Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78589-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78589-9_3
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