The Sense of Mission in Russian Foreign Policy

Alicja Curanović is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Warsaw.

Introduction I. Messianism as a socio-political phenomenon 1. The concept and typology of messianism 2. The characteristics of the historical development of the messianic idea 3. The sense of mission in the national self-identification process II. Mission in foreign policy 1. Identity and foreign policy 2. The concept of mission 3. Mission: role-identity and ontological security 4. Mission: recognition and status ambitions 5. Mission in foreign policy: analytical categories III. The sense of mission in Russia’s historical process of self-identification 1. Russia’s mission: genealogy and the comparative perspective 2. The characteristics of the mission roles in the Russian intellectual tradition 3. Russia’s mission compared to other discourses in foreign policy after 1991 IV. Characteristics of the mission narrative in Russia’s foreign policy (2000-2018) 1. Method: How to sniff out mission 2. The contemporary mission narrative in Russia’s foreign policy: a panoramic view 3. Who needs saving? From what? And how? Russia’s mission viewed along analytical categories V. The significance of mission narrative in Russia’s contemporary policy 1. Classification of the functions of the mission roles 2. Mission and identity 3. Mission and status 4. Mission and the legitimacy of the government 5. Mission: discourse of the elite or the mentality of society? Conclusion