Authors

Hilary Appel¹;  ¹ Claremont McKenna College, United States

Discussion

This paper examines the narratives surrounding Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the start of the war, Western characterizations of Russia's foreign policy as revanchist and imperialist have been overshadowed by the more successful framing by Russia that its actions were driven by the need to push back on American unipolarity and Western imperialist tendencies. This paper examines how the Kremlin's narrative on the war has been embraced by leaders in core BRICS countries, shaping their position vis-à-vis Russia and the war. Drawing on theories of strategic narratives, this paper highlights how leaders in China, India, Brazil, and South Africa understand the war and create conditions in which Russia can prosecute its war against a neighbor with their support or acquiescence. The paper concludes with policy recommendations and a brief discussion of why theories of strategic narratives have been underappreciated relative to more standard power-based and materialist explanations of the war's outbreak, scope, and trajectory by scholars of international relations.