| Description |
This thesis describes Russian foreign policy in Transcaucasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) utilizing a theory of motivations and perceptions developed by Richard Cottam. It applies perceptual stereotypes to the perceptions of a state and then develops motivational systems. The first section contains a description of Russian domestic politics. Russia is in turmoil socially, politically, and economically. It faces major challenges in policy making because of the domestic situation and also because of the various pressures placed upon the Yeltsin administration. The government must please not only the domestic constituency but also the nationalist movement and the international community. The next sections describe Russian perceptions and motivations in Transcaucasia. Russian perceptions in all of Transcaucasia fall into the perceptual stereotype of the "child" which evokes an imperialist pattern of behavior. However, these perceptual stereotypes are complicated by a Russian perception of ii threat from these states that is dependent on the catastrophic situation on the Russian homefront. Therefore, although the perception is that of the "child," the motivational systems are status-quo due to this added perception of threat. The conclusion predicts that if Yeltsin remains in power, the motivational systems in Transcaucasia will not change to any large degree. However, if the nationalist party is successful in gaining the presidency, then the motivational systems will become extremely imperialistic, even to the point of reconquering Transcaucasia. The motivational systems will also transform toward the imperialistic if the Russian domestic situation improves. In this case, hopefully, the international community will be able to deter aggressive behavior. |
