POST-SOVIET DECOLONIZATION AND IR: LANGUAGE, LEGACY, AND THE REMAPPING OF POSTCOLONIAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

This study explores how post-Soviet states use language as a tool of decolonial agency and international re-positioning within the field of International Relations (IR). Focusing on the speeches of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the paper investigates how rhetorical strategies shape national identity, challenge imperial legacies, and redefine global power alignments. Grounded in a qualitative research approach and employing Norman Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study analyzes each speech through textual, discursive, and social dimensions, attending to lexical choices, metaphors, grammatical structures, modes of distribution, and ideological effects.

The findings reveal two distinct discursive pathways toward post-Soviet decolonization. Zelenskyy constructs a narrative of urgent resistance and epistemic realignment with the European civilizational core. His speech, framed by binary metaphors (e.g., “light vs. darkness”), collective agency, and appeals to shared European values, positions Ukraine as both a victim of Russian imperial aggression and a rightful member of the European community. In contrast, Tokayev enacts a discourse of moderation and sovereign neutrality, using diplomatic metaphors, multilateral vocabulary, and non-confrontational grammar to assert Kazakhstan’s geopolitical autonomy. His emphasis on multipolarity, intercultural dialogue, and non-alignment positions Kazakhstan as a voice of balance in a divided world, subtly challenging both Russian hegemony and Western unipolarity.

Significantly, both speeches serve as discursive acts of epistemic repositioning. They deconstruct Cold War binaries and reframe post-Soviet nations as active agents in the global order, one through performative resistance, the other through strategic diplomacy. These linguistic choices have material implications: Zelenskyy’s speech catalyzed European policy shifts and moral solidarity, while Tokayev’s reinforced Kazakhstan’s diplomatic credibility and domestic identity formation.

The study contributes to postcolonial IR theory by illustrating how discourse becomes a site of geopolitical contestation and self-representation in the post-Soviet context. It demonstrates that decolonization is not solely a historical or territorial process, but also a linguistic and symbolic one where nations reassert sovereignty through strategic engagement with global narratives. The findings highlight the transformative power of language in reshaping IR hierarchies, expanding the analytical horizons of both CDA and post-Soviet studies. This work has broader implications for understanding how non-Western and formerly colonized states navigate recognition, resistance, and redefinition in contemporary international relations. Diplomacy.