Andrei Tsygankov: “The US establishment, not the Kremlin, is undermining normalisation with Russia”

The release of an intelligence report on Russian interference in the US presidential election, alongside allegations of links between Donald Trump and the Kremlin, have strained US-Russia relations. Andrei P. Tsygankov argues that there remains a deep-rooted fear of Russia within the American establishment, but that Donald Trump’s election provides an opportunity for the two countries to normalise their relations

Nobody loves Russia: how western media have perpetuated the myth of Putin’s ‘neo-Soviet autocracy’

Russia’s political system has frequently been criticised by Western politicians and commentators, with some observers drawing parallels between the rule of Vladimir Putin and the old Soviet regime during the communist-era. But how accurate are these criticisms? Andrei P. Tsygankov writes that a particular narrative which views Russia as a ‘neo-Soviet autocracy’ has built up in western media sources. He argues that this narrative ignores the reality of Putin’s regime and serves simply to legitimise the identity of the United States and the American-led ‘free world’ relative to that of an ‘oppressive’ Russia

Why Russia’s ‘strong state’ political system still remains a better option for the country than western-style democracy

Russia’s political system has often been criticised by commentators and academics who advocate a transition to a more western-style of democracy. Andrei P. Tsygankov argues that while the Russian system under Vladimir Putin undoubtedly requires substantial reforms, the ‘strong state’ model adopted in the country also generates a number of benefits for Russian citizens that have largely been overlooked in the West. He writes that abandoning this model in favour of a western political system would be at odds with the prevailing conditions within the country and that the aim should instead be to reform the existing system so that it works more effectively for ordinary Russians

Western civilizational biases, see Hoffmann

This article addresses the question of interaction between Western and ''non-Western'' international relations (IR) by analyzing liberal theory of IR that is emerging in contemporary Russia. We argue that, despite a growing diversity within Russian scholarship of liberal orientation, it remains largely a product of Western, particularly American, intellectual hegemony, and more so than any other theoretical perspective. As compared to two other existing traditions in Russian IR-realism and critical studies-liberalism remains the most dependent and therefore must be explored before any other traditions as a crucial case for understanding the dialectic of cultural dependence and hegemony in production of global knowledge. We argue that the greater dependence of Russian liberal IR results from its relatively weak indigenous tradition, perception of Russia's material weakness as opportunity, and greater availability of Western research funds. We also discuss an alternative, less dependent version of Russian liberal IR, and opportunities that its existence implies for development of a global, de-centered international relations theory. Scholars do not like to think about their intellectual dependence on the status of their country, and on ambitions of its political elites; it disturbs their sense of belonging to a cosmopolitan, free-floating community of science … And yet, the link exists. And it is sometimes reinforced by institutional arrangements. Stanley Hoffmann (1995: 225) Western scholars can improve their understanding of the world by studying international relations (IR) as a discipline outside the West. For a long time, international relations have been developing as an excessively West-centric and pro-Western branch of research. As many scholars pointed out, IR all too often reflects political, ideological, and epistemological biases of Western, particularly American, civilization. 1 As a result, a perception has arisen throughout the world 1 For various analyses of international relations as a discipline that is ethnocentric and reflects American

The Cold Peace: Russo-Western Relations as a Mimetic Cold War

In 1989–1991 the geo-ideological contestation between two blocs was swept away, together with the ideology of civil war and its concomitant Cold War played out on the larger stage. Paradoxically, while the domestic sources of Cold War confrontation have been transcended, its external manifestations remain in the form of a ‘legacy’ geopolitical contest between the dominant hegemonic power (the United States) and a number of potential rising great powers, of which Russia is one. The post-revolutionary era is thus one of a ‘cold peace’. A cold peace is a mimetic cold war. In other words, while a cold war accepts the logic of conflict in the international system and between certain protagonists in particular, a cold peace reproduces the behavioural patterns of a cold war but suppresses acceptance of the logic of behaviour. A cold peace is accompanied by a singular stress on notions of victimhood for some and undigested and bitter victory for others. The perceived victim status of one set of actors provides the seedbed for renewed conflict, while the ‘victory’ of the others cannot be consolidated in some sort of relatively unchallenged post-conflict order. The ‘universalism’ of the victors is now challenged by Russia's neo-revisionist policy, including not so much the defence of Westphalian notions of sovereignty but the espousal of an international system with room for multiple systems (the Schmittean pluriverse)

Black hole spin-orbit misalignment in the x-ray binary MAXI J1820+070

The observational signatures of black holes in x-ray binary systems depend on their masses, spins, accretion rate, and the misalignment angle between the black hole spin and the orbital angular momentum. We present optical polarimetric observations of the black hole x-ray binary MAXI J1820+070, from which we constrain the position angle of the binary orbital. Combining this with previous determinations of the relativistic jet orientation. which traces the black hole spin, and the inclination of the orbit, we determine a lower limit of 40 degrees on the spin-orbit misalignment angle. The misalignment must originate from either the binary evolution or black hole formation stages. If other x-ray binaries have similarly large misalignments, these would bias measurements of black hole masses and spins from x-ray observations

Polarized blazar X-rays imply particle acceleration in shocks

Most of the light from blazars, active galactic nuclei with jets of magnetized plasma that point nearly along the line of sight, is produced by high-energy particles, up to around 1 TeV. Although the jets are known to be ultimately powered by a supermassive black hole, how the particles are accelerated to such high energies has been an unanswered question. The process must be related to the magnetic field, which can be probed by observations of the polarization of light from the jets. Measurements of the radio to optical polarization—the only range available until now—probe extended regions of the jet containing particles that left the acceleration site days to years earlier1,2,3, and hence do not directly explore the acceleration mechanism, as could X-ray measurements. Here we report the detection of X-ray polarization from the blazar Markarian 501 (Mrk 501). We measure an X-ray linear polarization degree ΠX of around 10%, which is a factor of around 2 higher than the value at optical wavelengths, with a polarization angle parallel to the radio jet. This points to a shock front as the source of particle acceleration and also implies that the plasma becomes increasingly turbulent with distance from the shock

X-ray Polarization Observations of BL Lacertae

Blazars are a class of jet-dominated active galactic nuclei with a typical double-humped spectral energy distribution. It is of common consensus the Synchrotron emission to be responsible for the low frequency peak, while the origin of the high frequency hump is still debated. The analysis of X-rays and their polarization can provide a valuable tool to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for the origin of high-energy emission of blazars. We report the first observations of BL Lacertae performed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer ({IXPE}), from which an upper limit to the polarization degree $\Pi_X<$12.6\% was found in the 2-8 keV band. We contemporaneously measured the polarization in radio, infrared, and optical wavelengths. Our multiwavelength polarization analysis disfavors a significant contribution of proton synchrotron radiation to the X-ray emission at these epochs. Instead, it supports a leptonic origin for the X-ray emission in BL Lac.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

At War with the West: Russian Realism and the Conflict in Ukraine

Realism is the dominant worldview in the Russian foreign policy community. The paper analyzes the thinking of Russian ‘realists’ about the war in Ukraine through the lens of their various publications. ‘Realists’ support the Kremlin’s view by assessing the war as a globally significant military confrontation with the West rather than merely a regional conflict. They converge on the priorities of state sovereignty and security rather than empire-building. However, they diverge on tactics, as well as analysis of the conflict’s causes and the urgency of completing the military operation. They also disagree with respect to Putin’s conduct of the war and the prospects of completing its officially stated goals.&nbsp

The heartland no more: Russia’s weakness and Eurasia’s meltdown

The Eurasian region continues to disintegrate, and neither Russia nor the West has been able to arrest the destabilizing dynamics. Evidence of rising instability throughout the region include the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war, terrorist attacks in the Northern Caucasus, the persistent failure of Western forces to stabilize Afghanistan, the inability of Central Asian rulers to reign in local clans and drug lords, and the paralysis of legitimately elected bodies of power in Ukraine and Moldova. The West’s attempts to secure and stabilize Eurasia after the end of the Cold War have not led to success. Russia too has greatly contributed to the Eurasian meltdown. The Soviet collapse and the subsequent retreat of Russia from the region have greatly destabilized the area. The relative recovery of the Russian economy during the post-Yeltsin decade began to revive Russia’s standing in Eurasia, yet Moscow could ill afford serious efforts to stabilize and pacify the region. Russia’s resurgence is a response to its lacking recognition as a vital power and partner of the West. If Russia chooses to dedicate itself to obstructing Western policies in Eurasia, we will see more of the collapsing dynamics in the region. Preventing this requires recognizing Russia’s role in stabilizing the region and working with Russia in developing a joint assessment of threat and establishing a collective security arrangement in Eurasia