Religious and ethnic ties outweighed communist ideology in post-Soviet Russian foreign policy

Evidence

Inhabiting a small, landlocked country with meager resources bordered by hostile Turkic peoples, Armenians have historically looked for protection to their Orthodox kin, Georgia and Russia. Russia, in particular, has been viewed as a big brother. As the Soviet Union was collapsing, however, and the Nagorono-Karabakh Armenians launched their drive for independence, the Gorbachev regime rejected their demands and dispatched troops to the region to support what was viewed as a loyal communist government in Baku. After the end of the Soviet Union, these considerations gave way to more long-standing historical and cultural ones, with Azerbaijan accusing “the Russian government of turning 180 degrees” and actively supporting Christian Armenia. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 772

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the book’s broader civilizational-lines thesis: Russia siding with Orthodox Armenia over its own former Soviet client, Azerbaijan.