The Effectiveness of Soviet Interwar Foreign Policy

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Joaquin Flores

By: Andrew Korybko

The Effectiveness of Soviet Interwar Foreign Policy

oviet foreign policy before the Cold War has contradictorily been described as either being pragmatic and realistic or ineffective and idealistic. The true nature of interwar Soviet foreign policy lies somewhere in between both extreme designations. Although the Soviet Union did bungle some foreign policy priorities as a result of ideology, in others it was more pragmatic and realistic. As with any state’s foreign policy, it sought to advance national interests in a complex international environment. Given the preponderant influence of ideology in the Soviet Union at the time, as well as the unstable international environment in which policy was created, the case can be made that Soviet foreign policy was as successful as it could be within the limits placed upon it. Continue reading →

Mainstream and Alternative Approaches to Regional Subsystems

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Joaquin Flores

By: Andrew Korybko

Mainstream and Alternative Approaches to Regional Subsystems

Multipolarity, Big Spaces, Eurasianism, Ethnogenesis, and the Clash of Civilizations

[The following brief is from a series in our exclusive collection of the previously unpublished notes and works of the author – Ed. (JV Capone)]

he mainstream approach towards regional subsystem (RSS) formation is that it is formed on the common perception of friends vs. enemies, amity vs enmity. Buzan and Weaver also state that a RSS is a so-called “structured region” that may not necessarily be geographically contiguous. Continuing along the tangent of a RSS being created through perceptions (the constructivist IR school), then it is evident that there most definitely exists RSS in North America and Europe. North America (the US, Canada, and to a large extent, Mexico) have the same perceptions of threats and challenges. All three states also cooperate extensively in their economic relations via NAFTA, reinforcing the liberalist theory that institutional measures may bring states closer together through shared interests.

Europe, in the context of the EU, contains a myriad of states, but by and large, none of the members have any uncontrollable enmity towards one another. They do not view the governments of fellow EU members as threats to their security, although they may have internalized certain stereotypes about their neighbors that affect their dealings with other ethnic groups. Nonetheless, none of the EU member states are preparing for war against one another, and any type of rivalry between them is principally economic, not military. Continue reading →

The Color Revolution Model: An Exposé of the Core Mechanics

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Joaquin Flores

By: Andrew Korybko

The Color Revolution Model: An Exposé of the Core Mechanics

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[ Note: The Color Revolution and Arab Spring phenomenon is one which receives particular attention at CSS, because it is one of the primary tactics used in geopolitics and geostrategy which also relies on a syncretic or interdisciplinary model. It involves mass psychology, marketing and advertising, sociology, ideology, and a range of other fields. This piece should be understood as a schematic with explanatory annotations and dissection of particular mechanisms. We strongly recommend this to be read alongside several previous pieces which explore the history, figures involved in developing the theory, and real-world application in the following pieces featured here at CSS –

1. Gene Sharp: From Berlin Wall to Arab Spring or The Politics of Counter-Revolution

2. Gene Sharp: A Chief Tactician of the US Post-Cold War Period – J.V Capone, editor] Continue reading →