Karen_A._Mingst,_Ivan_M._Arregu_n-Toft]_Essentia

Contending Perspectives on the International System 121

are expected to act in certain ways. An impor tant

sign of great power status is a willingness to

threaten or use armed force abroad in pursuit

of state interests. Thus, even though Rus sia’s

power is in decline in material terms, by acting

according to the great power script, Rus sia’s

leaders make it pos si ble for Rus sians to feel

that their state (and they) are feared and there-

fore respected.

Feminist explanations of Rus sia’s recent inter-

ventions are similar. Some feminist international

relations theorists argue that the international

system is profoundly gendered. States with more

material power and a willingness to use power

aggressively (e.g., Rus sia) are more masculine,

and states with less material power or an unwill-

ingness to use power aggressively are more femi-

nine. Foreign policies follow: “feminine” states are

more patient, and more apt to respond to crises

or threats with diplomatic or economic resources

than with military action. “Masculine” states are

less patient, and more apt to respond to crises

and threats with an aggressive use of military

force. In this view, Rus sia’s foreign policy helps to

constitute it as a hypermasculinist state. Realism,

constructivism, and feminist theory move in the

same direction: power demands military action

(as does a masculine identity), and military action

implies power.

For CritiCal analy sis

1. Is Rus sia’s military intervention a sign of its weakness or evidence of its resurgent
   strength?


2. If you were advising the United States, what would you recommend the president do in
   response to Rus sia’s intervention? What role do you think the UN should have in that
   response?

a. A ndrew E. Kraemer, Helene Cooper, and Ceylan Yeginsu, “Kremlin Says Rus sian ‘Volunteer’ Forces Will Fight

in Syria,” New York Times, Oct. 6, 2015.

Rus sia’s President Vladimir Putin (right) accompanies

Syria’s President Bashar al Assad in a show of support

for Assad in late 2015. Rus sia has argued that a

Western preference for justice over stability has led to

dramatically increased injustice as many states in the

Middle East and North Africa— such as Libya and

Syria— are now beset by vicious civil wars, leading to

widespread human suffering and massive refugee

flows.

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