The Impact of Russian Domestic Politics on the Annexation of Crimea

The annexation of Crimea in March 2014 marked the end of the status quo between the Federation of Russia, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States. This dissertation is concerned with the Russian domestic political factors that drove to the annexation of Crimea and will not be concerned with external factors such as Russo-Ukrainian relations. In order to study the different causes of the annexation, and because realist factors cannot account entirely for the annexation of Crimea, constructivist factors will be studied, as well as the power structure in Russia. The study’s main findings will be that the elite change, with the growing influence of the secret services and the military, the raise of authoritarianism of the Russian regime, the rebirth of Russian nationalism, with the search of Russia to be recognised as a Great power, and the domestic economic problems can provide an explanation for the annexation of Crimea.