title: The Russian Quest for Ontological Security:An Inquiry into the Reconstruction and Translation of the “Russian Self” in Relation to the Military Intervention in the Kosovo and Ukraine Crises
abstract: Why did Russia see military intervention as a meaningful response to events unfolding in Kosovo (1999) and Ukraine (2014) despite major security risks and predictable negative consequences for Russia’s economy and international reputation? The dissertation applies ontological security to answer these questions by shedding light on the important—yet overlooked—mutually constitutive relation between the Russian quest for a secure sense of post-Soviet Self and its foreign policy. It argues that con