Russia s approaches to military interventions. A comparative case study of Georgia and Syria.

This thesis compares the justifications by the Russian authorities on their stance on military intervention in the cases of Georgia and Syria. The justifications are examined through an idea analysis, using ideal types based on the solidarist and pluralist versions of international society of the English School Theory (EST). The two branches disagree to the extent values and norms can be shared by members of international society, and therefore represent opposing positions on the legitimacy of military interventions to prevent gross violations of human rights. A comparative analysis of the two cases reveals both contradictions and similarities. In Syria, Russian authorities held pluralist principles such as state sovereignty and non-intervention over the moral obligation to intervene in order to prevent gross human rights violations. In Georgia, however, they were willing to defend solidarist ideas to justify the intervention. The analysis suggests that these ideas were primarily defended as a result of the perceived duty to protect civilians or Russian citizens close to Russian borders, and less so to protect civilians in other parts of the world. This contradiction may not be as inconsistent as usually held, however, if solidarist ideas are used consistently to justify the need to protect Russian citizens or perceived Russian interests close to its border. Both cases show that Russian authorities are skeptical to the expansion of solidarist norms based on Western values, as this development is perceived to disrupt international order and to increase Western hegemony in the system, which negatively affects the great power status Russia seeks to attain in the post-Cold War era. The implications of Russia s approach to military intervention are that the Russian authorities are likely to remain skeptical to its endorsement, especially on Western terms, and that the UN Security Council is likely to continue having difficulties in dealing with threats to international peace and security. However, in the post-Soviet sphere, Russia s perceived duty to protect Russian citizens could spark similar interventions as the one in Georgia