Unilateralism in US and Russia's Politics
After the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia significantly reduced their reliance on traditional allies and international institutions even on those previously dominated by Washington or Moscow. As a result unilateral tendencies in U.S. and Russia’s foreign policy have become more visible in recent years. The Kremlin’s attempts to create a «multipolar world» sometimes relying on unilateral measures could be characterized as a response to unilateralism of the Bush administration in the early 2000s. Given the fact that both Russia and the United States’ «strategic cultures» (great power cultures) share a lot in common, no wonder why Kremlin’s policymakers borrow some elements of U.S. «hard realism» and conservatism. The logic is simple: great powers as primary actors of IR can hardly be bound by international norms because of major players’ urge towards self-sufficiency and freedom of actions.