Putin Constitutionalizes Soviet Mistakes Rather Than Learning from Them
Document Type
Response or Comment
Publication Title
Jurist
Abstract
This piece explains why President Putin’s public effort to distinguish his invasion of Ukraine from previous instances of armed aggression by the Soviet Union is bound to fail. Rather than actually distance himself from the discredited international legal theories used by the Soviets to justify their invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Putin’s amendments to the Russian constitution have elevated the Soviet doctrines of peaceful coexistence and noninterference to constitutionally embedded norms directing Russian foreign policy. Whereas the Soviets used these doctrines to claim a right to defend “international socialism” at the expense of state sovereignty and the UN’s mandate to maintain international peace and security, President Putin now harnesses the same concepts to justify his defense of the “Russian World.”
Publication Date
9-29-2023
Recommended Citation
Blitt, Robert C., "Putin Constitutionalizes Soviet Mistakes Rather Than Learning from Them" (2023). Tennessee Law in the News. 59.
https://ir.law.utk.edu/in_the_news/59