Constructivism Revisited: A Case-Study on Russia and Moscow-Washington Relations

This article presents a case study on Moscow-Washington relations and the foreign policy visions currently employed by the Russian Federation according to the Constructivist Theory of International Relations. It aims to demonstrate that, although the Realist perspective seems (at first sight) the most appropriate one to approach the current Russian foreign policy, the Constructivist Theory still holds sufficient explanatory force in regard to Moscow´s view of the international scenario and its relationship with the West. In order to reinforce the proposed argument, we set out to discuss some of the main contributions of Constructivism to the Theory of International Relations and its reinterpretation of concepts previously crystallized by Neorealism and Neoliberalism. Secondly, we demonstrate how the Constructivist Theory can be applied, from the Soviet era to the present, to explain Moscow´s current view about the international system and, moreover, its complicated relationship with the United States. The conclusion is that: on both sides the perception of an era in which Great Powers once again compete for power and influence on the global stage reflects not so much the force of material factors (as advocated by the realistic perspective), but of ideas and, above all, how each side has learned to see the "Other" and to interpret the world around them.