Liberal democracy, market economy, and international conduct as standards of ‘civilization’ in contemporary international society: The case of Russia's entry into the ‘community of civilized states’

In his report to the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation in the beginning of 1992, President Boris Yeltsin stated that one of the fundamental principles of his foreign policy was the integration of Russia into the ‘community of civilized states’. However, joining a society or community of some kind requires the fulfilment of certain standards. The first global application of international norms and expected standards of behaviour took place during the nineteenth century through the process of the expansion of the European society of states and its gradual transformation to the contemporary global international society. In this process, the standard of ‘civilization’ played an essential role in determining which states would join the expanding European society and which ones would not. Despite its official repudiation, the standard of ‘civilization’ has remained an international practice as well as a benchmark against which the attitudes and policies of states are assessed. This paper examines the changes that the Russian Government under President Yeltsin had to introduce in order to achieve the country's admission into post-Cold War international society. It argues that these changes included the democratization of the Russian political system, the transformation of the Russian economic system into a free market economy, and the de-ideologisation of the Russian foreign policy.