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Costas Melakopides

Abstract

Stereotypically, Moscow’s policies towards Cyprus, like those of the UK and the US, have been treated diachronically via the hegemonic analytical paradigm, especially during the Cold War, namely ‘Political Realism’. And yet, primarily since 1991 – but arguably even earlier – Moscow’s Cyprus policies have been quite distinct, being marked by such ‘idealistic’ characteristics, as sustained support for the UN Resolutions, for international law (including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity) and international ethics (including solidarity, protection of human rights, and opposition to illegality and injustice). Therefore, whereas the ‘power-political’ reading of Washington and London’s Cyprus policies remains valid, the identical reading of Moscow’s policies needs to be transcended. Thus, the concept of ‘Pragmatic Idealism’, first introduced regarding Canadian foreign policy, is applied here to the sui generis Russia-Cyprus relationship which, after all, has been thoroughly affected by historical, political, religious, cultural, and axiological affinities and bonds.

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Keywords

Political Realism, great powers' antagonism, political culture, 'idealistic policies', interests and values, Pragmatic Idealism

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Interviews

Cypriot Foreign Minister, Dr Erato Kozakou-Markoulli, conducted by Marina Salvaridi in Nicosia on 24 March 2011.

Former Cypriot Foreign Minister, Giorgos Lillikas, conducted by Marina Salvaridi in Nicosia on 7 February 2011.
Section
Articles

How to Cite

“The ‘Pragmatic Idealism’ of Russia’s Post-Cold War Policy towards Cyprus”. 2017. Cyprus Review 24 (1): 71-97. https://cyprusreview.org/index.php/cr/article/view/146.