Contemporary International Relations Of Russian Realism - Historical School

Realistic system-history school is one of main schools among contemporary Russian international relations. However, the study of realistic system-history school among educational circles at home and abroad lacks profundity. The dissertation attempts to interpret the almost untouched works of typical characters of the school, examines its theoretical thinking and traces back to its historical source in an effort to throw light on its diplomatic influence and conclude its general characteristics.At the beginning the dissertation starts from the main schools and characteristics of contemporary Russian international schools with the emphasis on the analysis regarding identity traits and respective opinions of realistic system-history school. It should be pointed out that the typical characters of realistic system-history schools major in history. Most of them come from authoritative branches of international relations, such as the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in the Academy of Science, American and Canadian Institute and the Academy of International Relations. These institutes have a long-term tradition of carrying out thinking activities and influencing public policy. In terms of concrete theorectical thinking, they emphasize on power and national interests, focus on traditional geo-political elements and economic development. They stress military power, especially the nuclear power and perform active diplomacy of balance. Then the dissertation traces back to historical origin of realistic system-history school on basis of the works of the school's typical character Pozdniakov and makes an analysis of the realistic theoretical foundation of the school. The historical source dates from the Soviet Union Era. The change under the context of Russian culture-system occurs violently. At first, it is held by rigid Marxism-Leninism ideology of the supreme power authorities. Then it is influenced by the imitation of the United States in accordance with the proposal of new sons of"twentieth council". At last, it is influenced by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian international relations scholars also experience a complex process from the situation negatively influenced by ideology to the realization of dialogues and the creative understanding of western international relations ideology. During the period, the ideological revolution of the system-history school roughly falls into three stages with Gorbachev's reform and the collapse of the Soviet Union as demarcation lines. The first stage from the 1960s and 1970s to the middle 1980s, the general characteristic of the system-historical school's ideology is the combination of Marxism-Leninism (Proletarian internationalism) and realism. The second stage from the middle 1980s to the beginning 1990s witnesses the characteristic of the combination of liberalism and realism. The third stage from the beginning 1990s to today evolves towards neo-realism. In other words, the emphasis is put on the anarchy of international society. The essence of international relations is the struggle of power among nations with national interests at the core.In addition, the dissertation explores the influence of contemporary Russian realistic system-historical school on modern Russian diplomatic policy. Although the diplomatic strategy of a nation is influenced by multifold elements, the representative characters of the realistic system-history school, whether those in academic or in political circle enjoy high prestige. These characters also have reliable approaches to exerting influence on Russian diplomatic decision. Whether Russian containment policy during the era of Yeltsin and Primakov, or Putin's pragmatic diplomacy, prove that policy makers adopt a flexible strategy under the complex internal and external situation. The core theoretical opinions of the realistic system-history school have not experienced great changes.The conclusion summarizes the main characteristics of contemporary Russian realistic system-history school, that is, (1) the complex process of ideological revolution; (2) specific research methodology——the combination of tradition and modern times; (3) ideological contents basically conform to the traits of neo-realism; (4) exerting great influence on contemporary Russian diplomatic strategy.