The Realist Illusion About Russia and Ukraine: A Response to Stephen Walt

What really causes the “Ukraine crises”

27 January 2022

Aliaksei Kazharski

Visegrad Insight Fellow

Realists claim that strategic competition of great powers is a given, an inevitable reality, but history has already proven them wrong.

Stephen Walt blames the new “Ukraine crisis” on the “liberal illusions” that pushed for NATO enlargement, making Russia feel threatened. He claims that agreeing on Ukraine’s neutral status will make it safer for everyone, including the Ukrainians. However, his argument is built on the dangerous illusion that Moscow is a rational actor that is driven by tangible security concerns. In truth, there is no serious grounds for such concerns and the authoritarian regime in Russia is not bound by that logic. It constructs international threats randomly because that helps regime survival.

Editor’s Pick: Escaping Great Power Politics

It seems to become a bit of a tradition that every time Russia attacks (or threatens to attack) Ukraine, a renowned American IR realist comes forward to explain why this is the West’s fault. In 2014, it was John Mearsheimer with his famous op-ed. Now, it’s Stephen Walt presenting in his article for Foreign Policy “Liberal Illusions Caused the Ukraine Crisis” what looks like a very similar argument. NATO enlargement was a mistake because it endangered Russia, and Moscow has no choice but to react.

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Aliaksei Kazharski

Visegrad Insight Fellow

Visegrad Insight Fellow. Researcher at the Institute of European Studies and International Relations of the Comenius University in Bratislava and a lecturer at the Department of Security Studies of Charles University in Prague

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