From Assertiveness to Aggression

 2014 was a watershed year for the Russian Federation. In HCSS’ contribution to the Strategic Monitor last year, we documented Russia’s relatively high and growing (also comparatively speaking) levels of international assertiveness.6 This year, that assertiveness morphed into naked aggression. Russia became the first European country since the end of World War II to forcefully expand its own territory by unceremoniously annexing 20,000 km2 that legitimately belonged to another European country – with the broad support (and even enthusiasm) of the overwhelming majority of its population. In 2014, the ‘entente’ between Russia and the West, which had never been truly cordial in the first place, was shattered. For The Netherlands, a country with long and deep ties with Russia and one that had made extraordinary efforts to commit itself to Russia’s transformation, 2014 was the year when Russia’s assertiveness ‘struck home’, as almost 200 Dutch citizens became the victims of the downing of MH17.