Subversion in the (in)security policy in Eastern Europe: selected problems

Abstract

In the 21st century, subversion understood as a foreign disruptive activity, has become an element of security policy and power politics in an environment where the direct use of force may be too risky. Though this term is well-known in humanities in Poland, it hasn’t yet been translated and literally applied by Polish political scholars. However, states’ repertoire includes measures that are a continuation or even a substitute of “war”, and their very objectives are consistent with the logic of subversive strategies known in arts. As opposed to direct violence, such operations aim at maintaining conditions between political weakness and failure by targeting fragile areas. In this vein, subversion appears to become the first strategic choice of many states, including world powers. The author introduces the term to the taxonomy of security studies as he starts from a semantic theoretical reasoning (subversion as a covert and indirect strategy) and later answers how subversive strategies are implemented in Eastern Europe. In a specific geopolitical context, i.e. in the intersection of transatlantic/European security complex and post-Soviet area, subversion is part and parcel of the Kremlin policy towards Georgia and Ukraine, and recently the Republic of Belarus towards Poland. Therefore, subversive, “short of war” measures are intended to force competitors to make political concessions, which defines the Russian (in)security policy in its “near (and a bit further) abroad”.