PETR SHAFIROV AND RUSSIAN STRATEGIC CULTURE

This study examines the role of Russia’s strategic culture in shaping its foreign policy by analyzing historical, legal, and cultural constructs. Focusing on key concepts such as “kinship,” “people,” and “just war,” this study shows how these elements shape the continuity of Russia’s imperial identity and geopolitical goals. It does so through the work of Baron Petr Shafirov, Russia’s first international lawyer and statesman. It focuses on “A Discourse Concerning the Just Causes of the War Between Sweden and Russia,” written by Shafirov in 1717, as a foundational text in the development of Russia’s strategic culture. This is because Shafirov constructs a conceptual framework that articulates Russia’s imperial claim under Peter I, bringing together the Russian past and the thinking of the time. At the same time, this text tells us how the Russian bureaucracy perceived and interpreted the concepts of European international law literature. Likewise, Shafirov’s construction of the concepts of “kinship,” “people,” and “just war” on the basis of the concepts of “kinship,” “people,” and “just war” to legitimize Russia’s actions in its foreign and expansionist policy shows how it has been historically constructed and even continues to the present day. Shafirov’s work, which is a history of international law and diplomacy, is one of the cornerstones in the construction of strategic culture and requires analysis and interpretation using the interpretivist method. In this study, we will first explain the concept of strategic culture and then discuss its logic and functioning in Russia’s foreign policy. Then Shahirov’s work will be analyzed in this context.