The Putin DoctrineA guide to the mind behind Kremlin policies

As the Obama administration charts its second-term policy toward Russia, it should take into account the aspirations thatguide Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. In his latest Russian Outlook, AEI Resident Scholar and Director of RussianStudies Leon Aron explains the Putin Doctrine — and why it does not bode well for the future of US-Russian relations.So, what are Putin’s priorities?

Maintaining nuclearparity with the United States.

Putin justifies his steadfast resistanceto a US/NATO missile defense system

in Europe with the fact that itallegedly “upsets the strategic

balance.”

Reestablishing controlover politics, the courts,

national television, and the “commanding heights” of theeconomy, especially the oil and

natural gas industries.

Courting anti-American clients in the MiddleEast, Latin America, and Asia.

Emblematic of this policy are Moscow’sprotection of Syrian President Bashar al-

Assad’s murderous regime and visitsby numerous Russian officials to

Cuba and Venezuela.

Pursuing political, economic, military, andcultural reintegration of the post-Soviet space. The

Kremlin has asserted that the deepening of integration of the formerSoviet territory is at the heart of Russia’s foreign policy. This quest has

resulted in the Collective Security Treaty Organization and theCustoms Union, which will expand into the “Common

Economic Space” and then, in 2015, into the“Eurasian Union.”

Substantially increasingdefense spending. The Kremlin iscurrently pursuing a $770 billion

defense rearmament program. In Putin’swords, “it’s obvious we won’t be able todevelop our international position, our

economy or democratic institutions if wecannot defend Russia. . . . We must

not tempt anyone with ourweakness.”Legitimizing the regime

using a “besieged fortress” strat-egy and anti-Americanism. Putin

accuses the US of seeking to remain the“one single master” of the world and calls

pro-democracy opposition “jackals”searching for “crumbs” at

foreign embassies.

The Putin Doctrine leaves little room for compromise with the United States when Moscow believes that Washington isundermining Russia’s status as a great power. What are the implications of this doctrine for the future of bilateral rela-tions? Aron suggests that in light of the friction between US and Russian core policy objectives, the Obama administra-tion should consider ‘a strategic pause’ in its relations with the Kremlin.

Click here to read more.