Yes / In discussing the implications of Medvedev¿s presidency for NATO¿s future relations with Russia, I will take, as a starting point, an admittedly controversial judgment that the Soviet Union was brought down, not, as many in the West would maintain, by President Reagan, NATO intransigency and Star Wars, nor even by perestroika or `democratization¿, but by Gorbachev¿s policy of glasnost, the very openness that Vladimir Putin appeared bent on eradicating between 2000 and 2008 as he moved Russia back along more traditional authoritarian lines in order to overcome the widespread chaos and insecurity of the 1990¿s. I would argue further that it is disingenuous to ignore the fact that the overwhelming majority of Russians today connect openness ¿ which we in the West see as the very life-blood of our civic, democratic and free societies ¿ as a major cause of unprecedented national humiliation, enfeeblement and instability. On the contrary, it is my firm belief that these differing perceptions of openness should be factored into any formulation of an effective NATO policy toward its former long-standing adversary. / Political Committee, NATO Parliamentary Assembly

I detta arbete har jag försökt utröna vilken bild av Ryssland som kommer till uttryck i de fyra största svenska dagstidningarnas (Aftonbladet, Expressen, Svenska Dagbladet och Dagens Nyheter) rapportering av konflikten i Georgien sommaren 2008. Med utgångspunkt i Sture Nilssons Rysskräcken i Sverige – Fördomar och verklighet  har jag konstruerat en idealtyp, bestående av begreppen fientlighet, rädsla och misstro . Med detta som analysverktyg har jag studerat den rapportering som skedde mellan 2008-08-08 – 2008-08-12, dvs. under den väpnade delen av konflikten. I denna rapportering har idealtypens begrepp med stor tydlighet varit representerade i både ledare och allmän rapportering, dock inte med alla aspekter som ingick i definitionen för fientlighet. Begreppet rädsla  har endast yttrats otvetydigt under den sista dagens rapportering. Rapporteringen har varit liknande i alla fyra tidningar till innehållet, dock med något starkare tendenser i lösnummerpressen (Aftonbladet och Expressen) och med större volym i Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet. / In this essay I have attempted to determine what image of Russia was expressed in the largest newspapers in Sweden (Aftonbladet, Expressen, Svenska Dagbladet och Dagens Nyheter), during the conflict in Georgia in the summer of 2008. Starting with the image presented by Sture Nilsson in Rysskräcken i Sverige – Fördomar och verklighet, I have constructed an ideal consisting of the terms hostility, fear, and mistrust. These factors have then been used to analyse the reports between 2008-08-08 – 2008-08-12, which was the armed part of the conflict. I have found that the factors composing the ideal have been expressed clearly, in editorials as well as in news articles, with the exception of some of the factors that define hostility. The term fear  has only been expressed unequivocally in the last day’s reports. Reports have shown little variation between the different newspapers, although the tabloid press (Aftonbladet and Expressen) have expressed these tendencies slightly stronger, and the volume of reports have been noticeably larger in Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter.

Filmmediet idag är den mest populära formen av masskultur. Med sin världstäckande genomslagskraft och sitt stereotypa porträtterande av verklighet, påverkar filmen världsåskådningen för människor runtom i världen. Ett brinnande ämne i amerikansk film har alltid varit Ryssland, på grund av de politiska motsättningarna och den historiska rivaliteten med USA. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur Ryssland porträtteras i amerikanska filmer från perioden för presidenterna Dmitrij Medvedevs respektive Barack Obamas första mandatperiod. Frågeställningen för uppsatsen är: hur ser stereotypa föreställningar om Ryssland ut i amerikansk film 2008-2011? Trettiotal filmer med ryska motiv valdes ut för undersökningen och analyserades utifrån de visuella och sociala aspekterna. Resultatet visar på att det förekommer tre skikt av stereotyper om Ryssland: de eviga, som har existerat i hundratals år och spridits av resenärer; stereotyper från epoken för det kalla kriget; och stereotyper om det moderna Ryssland inspirerade av medias nyhetsrapporteringar.

The thesis seeks to chart the foundation and transformation of NATO-Russia relations from Yeltsin to Putin and Medvedev. It attempts to potray the continuity and change in the Russian Foreign Policy towards NATO in the light of the main international developments such as the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Bosnian war and the Kosovo conflict / as well as the internal transformation of the Alliance marked by the extension of the traditional NATO roles and the expansion policy. The thesis tries to depict the new initiatives in the Russian Foreign policy aimed at undermining NATO and US&rsquo / roles in Europe by attempting to establish an alternative European architecture to a NATO-centric one. It is argued that while Yeltsin promoted multilateralism based on the world led by the USA and the Russian Federation on a par, Putin and Medvedev&rsquo / s multilateralism was to undermine the American world hegemony and consolidate relations with Europe.

This work aims to provide an analysis of the potential for international cooperation between the United States and Russian Federation. It will employ analytical and empirical approach and will introduce a geopolitical perspective on bi-lateral relations between the two nations. It will include an analysis of geopolitical objectives and strategies of the two nations and identify areas where their respective interests converge as well as those where they diverge. Then, it will provide an in-depth analysis of the development of mutual relations during the era of Bush-Putin presidencies and during the era of Obama-Medvedev presidencies, in order to determine the various strategies that these two nations employ in bilateral relations with one another, as well as results of such strategies. This work will focus on the different impact of various policies on relations between the countries from a geopolitical perspective and will refer to geopolitical thinking, strategies and objectives of these two nations while analyzing various political initiatives. The overall purpose will then be to evaluate the potential for international cooperation as well as main obstacles to it. It will also assess the impact of leadership composition on the ability of these two nations to overcome differences in their approach...

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The aim of this thesis is to evaluate shifts in the EU - Russia co-operation in the last decade. It is based on the analysis of relations in terms of their content and their institutional framework. This work efforts to assess the potential of building the Four common spaces between Russia and the EU on the basis of the Russian and the European frame of reference.

The diploma thesis deals with the contemporary position of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in the European security architecture and, in particular, it is devoted to the assessment of the reform possibilities of this organization whose efficiency and relevance are being questioned these days. The thesis concentrates on the unique features of the OSCE as well as on the analysis of its strong and weak points and of the interests of the key players too. Previous attempts of the OSCE's reform including the most recent initiatives and proposals in a wide European security negotiations framework are also profoundly discussed. On the basis of preceding findings, summarizing conclusions are finally drawn and the thesis predicts probable scenarios concerning the future of OSCE and its reform process.

Ce mémoire a pour objectif d'offrir une interprétation alternative de la politique extérieure russe par le biais d'une analyse constructiviste critique des transformations identitaires et sécuritaires du discours officiel de 2000 à 2010. Pour ce faire, le mémoire se concentre sur le rôle de l'agence en indiquant comment les élites de sécurité nationale russe (re)construisent continuellement l'identité et la sécurité nationale de leur État et comment les événements internationaux servent régulièrement de tremplin afin de légitimer ces (re)constructions. Le mémoire a pour objectif secondaire de rendre compte de l'impact de ces transformations sur la politique extérieure russe à l'endroit d'États controversés. Le mémoire observe dans cette optique les relations russo-iraniennes en guise d'étude de cas. De 2000 à 2010, le mémoire indique que le thème identitaire de derzhavnost - c'est-à-dire la destinée de grande-puissance - est dominant pour avoir un effet structurant sur la politique extérieure par rapport à d'autres thèmes majeurs tels que la Russie en tant qu'État « européen » ou « démocratique ». Malgré les contraintes épistémiques que représente ce thème identitaire, le rôle de l'agence peut être observé à l'échelle de l'évolution des nuances apportées à cinq marqueurs de derzhavnost : la puissance économique, la puissance militaire, l'exceptionnalisme géopolitique, le statut de membre permanent au Conseil de Sécurité de l'ONU et l'essence culturelle de la Russie. Le mémoire conclut que les relations russo-iraniennes de 2000 à 2010 peuvent être interprétées dans le cadre d'une quête de reconnaissance de la derzhavnost et de ses marqueurs, plutôt que toutes autres relations identitaires significatives à l'instar de la Russie et de son identité musulmane par exemple. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Russie, Identité, Sécurité, Politique extérieure, Constructivisme, Analyse de discours, Vladimir Poutine, Dmitri Medvedev, Iran, États-Unis