Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 01/2015

Russia's Breakout From the Post–Cold War System: The Drivers of Putin's Course

Dmitri Trenin

December 2014

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Abstract

In 2014, Russia broke out of the post–Cold War order and openly challenged the U.S.-led international system. Moscow’s new course is laid down first and foremost by President Vladimir Putin, but it also reflects the rising power of Russian nationalism.