CHALLENGES TO RUSSIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE CONTEX OF RUSSIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS UNDER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

• Main Author: Konstantin Vladimirovich Blokhin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2018-12-01
• Series: RUDN Journal of Political Science
• Subjects: Russian-American relations; Donald Trump administration; neoconservatives; military budget; US foreign policy; think tanks; militarization; cold war; unipolar world; hegemon; American establishment
• Online Access: http://journals.rudn.ru/political-science/article/viewFile/19637/16288

The article deals with the issues of Russia's national security, conditioned by the trends of the development of Russian-American relations during the administration of D. Trump. The author analyzes the factors that influence the US foreign policy toward Russia in 2017-18. The article proves that the tendency to deterioration of relations has a long-term character, which is caused by fundamental processes in the American elite. The main trend in its development is the strengthening of neoconservative forces and the growing influence of the so-called deep state. The influence of the neocons was manifested in the staffing of the American foreign policy course. Leading positions in the US government were taken by persons associated with neoconservative think tanks - the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the Brookings Institution, the Atlantic Council, and others. The author determines the nature of American foreign policy as a combination of foreign policy idealism and elements of realism. The process of developing a new American strategy in a changing world, a realistic realization of the US limits of its power predetermines turbulence and instability in US-Russian relations, the alternation of elements of containment and dialogue in mutual relations. The basis of the US national strategy remains the neoconservative principle of “peace through strength”, which is currently manifested in the modification of the US nuclear component and the destruction of the existing structure of strategic stability.