Peace as a continuation of war by other means? Russian Approaches to Peace Processes (RAPP)

Russia engages in a number of peace processes. This project is designed to investigate why, how and to what end Russia engages. It examines both conflicts in which Russia is a belligerent party (e.g., Ukraine), conflicts where it is involved as a mediator (e.g., Afghanistan), and conflicts where it is both belligerent and mediator (e.g. Syria). The project will examine Russia’s engagement in each of these three conflicts: the Minsk process on Donbas (2014–22); the Moscow process on Afghanistan (2016–); and the Astana process on Syria (2017–). Russia also relates to peace processes as a member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) with veto power, and the project will map how it has voted on peacemaking resolutions over time. The project will look at Russia’s peacemaking engagement across six dimensions: political culture, interests, norms, practices, institutions, and external relationships. It will base its analysis on a range of sources: interviews with individuals who have been directly engaged in the relevant processes, academic literature, news sources, as well as data on Russia’s UNSC voting patterns. The project is designed to contribute relevant insights on a regular basis, publishing reflection pieces and research reports, hosting roundtables with experts and policymakers, and publish scholarly articles in international journals. The project’s four-person research team combines leading expertise on peace processes with experts on Russia and the three conflict cases in focus). The project’s ultimate ambition is to provide a systematic analysis of Russia’s approach to peace-making, as a knowledge base that will help inform other actors – the UN, national governments, and civil society – on how to understand, and how to interact with, Russia in peace processes.

Russia is frequently engaged in peace processes, in conflicts where it is a belligerent party (e.g., Ukraine), in conflicts where it is involved as a mediator (e.g., Afghanistan), and as a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC). Russia’s approach to peace processes challenges the international peacemaking regime and sometimes entails competition with other peacemakers, including the UN. The Russian approach to peace processes is poorly understood, yet critically important, in Ukraine and beyond. In order to comprehend how Russia’s approach to peace processes differ over time, and across contexts, the RAPP project will examine Russia’s key engagements from the end of the Cold War to the present, and conduct three in-depth case studies: the Minsk process on Donbas (2014–22); the Moscow process on Afghanistan (2016–); and the Astana process on Syria (2017–). The analytical framework, applied across all the cases, covers six key dimensions: political culture, interests, norms, practices, institutions, and external relationships. Methodologically, the project will draw on interviews with individuals who have been directly engaged in the relevant processes, academic literature, news sources, and data on Russia’s UNSC voting patterns. Two-day expert roundtables are designed to engage stakeholders in discussing draft research reports, also serving as quality assurance. The project will pursue best practices in Open Research, posting practitioners’ reflection pieces and research reports, as well as publishing articles in leading journals. The research team brings together cutting-edge scholarship on peace processes with leading area studies experts (on Russia and the cases in focus). RAPP’s ultimate ambition is to provide a systematic analysis of Russia’s approach to peace-making, as a knowledge base that will help inform other actors – the UN, national governments, and civil society – on how to understand, and how to interact with, Russia in peace processes.