The Urge to Fear: External Threat Perceptions and Responses in Soviet Foreign Policy

Lowry, Christian Mark

The Urge to Fear: External Threat Perceptions and Responses in Soviet Foreign Policy

dc.contributor.advisor	Hill, Alexander
dc.contributor.author	Lowry, Christian Mark
dc.contributor.committeemember	Hill, Alexander
dc.contributor.committeemember	Stapleton, Timothy
dc.contributor.committeemember	Terriff, Terry
dc.date	2024-11
dc.date.accessioned	2024-09-04T17:13:47Z
dc.date.available	2024-09-04T17:13:47Z
dc.date.issued	2024-08-30
dc.description.abstract	Given the fragmented nature of the international system, the variable types and degrees of power that individual states possess, and the history of conflict between many of them, there are many specific threats for individual powers to fear in international relations. While all states experience insecurity due to the structural fragmentation of the international system, fear describes the apprehension directed towards specific threats, actual power disparities, and the sense of disadvantage that comes with them. The history of the Soviet Union—especially its foreign policy—contains a variety of illuminating insights about how fear of perceived threats can inform a state’s relations with other states. To assess if, how and why it did so is an enormous task, but what is apparent from much of the research on the Soviet Union is that 'fear' played a major role in shaping Soviet foreign policy. Within this project, I examine the alliances, conflicts, circumstances, and key decisions of Soviet foreign policy, in a relatively comprehensive and interdisciplinary exploration of the topic, utilizing mixed methods in the process. These research methods include varying degrees and applications of qualitative research, case studies of individual phenomena, historical research, limited quantitative methods, and secondary research, spanning the disciplines of political science, history, and international relations. Without determining whether the perceptions or decisions of Soviet policymakers were correct, justifiable or effective, my research nevertheless indicates that a pervasive fear of external security threats and eventualities exerted decisive influence on Soviet foreign policy, rather than more proactive or opportunistic factors. This finding underscores the importance of psychology, ideology, and narratives held by decision makers when interpreting the more objective aspects of Soviet foreign policy and its ripple effects throughout the modern world. They may also be of value in examining the circumstances of other states in the anarchy of the international system, whose fundamental conditions cannot sufficiently explain outlying or individual outcomes.
dc.identifier.citation	Lowry, C. M. (2024). The urge to fear: external threat perceptions and responses in Soviet foreign policy (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/119605
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Russia
dc.subject	Soviet Union
dc.subject	Soviet foreign policy
dc.subject	Russian foreign policy
dc.subject	Foreign policy
dc.subject	Fear
dc.subject	Insecurity
dc.subject	Security
dc.subject	International relations
dc.subject	Political science
dc.subject	Military
dc.subject	Soviet history
dc.subject	Cold War
dc.subject	Second World War
dc.subject	First World War
dc.subject	Russian Civil War
dc.subject	Soviet invasion of Hungary
dc.subject	Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
dc.subject	Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
dc.subject	Afghanistan
dc.subject	Hungary
dc.subject	Czechoslovakia
dc.subject.classification	Education--Social Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Economics--History
dc.subject.classification	History--Russian and Soviet
dc.subject.classification	History--Military
dc.title	The Urge to Fear: External Threat Perceptions and Responses in Soviet Foreign Policy
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Military & Strategic Studies
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Strategic Studies (MSS)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.