Changing relations between USSR/Russia and Western countries in the second half of the XX - early XXI century

The aggravation of the international situation in 2022 caused by the start of Russia's Special Military Operation in Ukraine is accompanied by cardinal political and economic changes in the processes of interaction between different countries. The public rhetoric and actions of the authorities of Western countries throughout the year demonstrate hostility towards Russia, as evidenced by Russian and foreign media, official documents of states. Consideration of changes in the relations of the USSR/Russia's relations with Western countries in the second half of the XX – early XXI century allows us to identify the true intentions and attitude of these countries to the Russian state, to the proper, in their opinion, role and place of Russia in the international arena, as well as to determine possible prospects in the development of international relations. In the relations of the USSR/Russia with Western states in the second half of the twentieth century the periods of hostility and confrontation have been long and were replaced by short periods of "calm", associated either with the need for the West to negotiate with Russia, or with the weakness of the Russian state. Even before the start of the Special Military Operation Russia appeared in official documents on the security of the United States and the European Union as an aggressor country and a potential adversary, which indicates the strengthening of Russia in the eyes of "Western partners". The US national security strategy provides for only one possible variant of the international situation – the hegemony of the U.S. over the rest of the world. The strengthening of Russia is becoming a threat to such dominance, which pushes the American leadership to use any means to suppress Russian initiatives. In March 2023, Russia adopted a new Foreign Policy Concept, in which it openly declared the hostility of Western countries and the right to defend its interests and security by any available means. In conditions of diametrically opposed aspirations of Russia and the West in matters of the political and economic structure of the world order, as well as the preservation/destruction of traditional values, a constructive dialogue becomes impossible.

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