Russia World Order

Russia and the Question of World Order engages with three sets of questions that cut to the heart of the ongoing debate about Russia’s role in the present world order. Firstly, the book asks what are Russia’s aims and objectives? Is Russia a highly revisionist power bent on overturning established rules and institutions, or is it best understood as a country with limited ambitions? Secondly, contributors ask what factors shape Russia’s views on the global order and its foreign policy choices? And finally, they ask what are the consequences of Russia’s actions for the existing international order? To answer these questions the book brings together scholars who analyse Russia’s world order policies through the lenses of different theoretical approaches, including the English School, E.H. Carr’s classical realism, social constructivism, and a long durée perspective. Examining Russia’s role in the present world order, with a special focus on Moscow’s relations with the US, China, and the EU, Russia and the Question of World Order will be of great interest to scholars of international relations and Russian foreign policy. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of European Politics and Society.

This book analyses Russia-Europe/EU relations by exploring their practical essence and conceptualizing them in terms of the main categories of international relations research. It argues that the liberal world order, established in Cold War days, whereby international relations are underpinned by a global balance of power and a highly institutionalized framework of international relations, thereby balancing power and morality, continued after the Cold War, with high hopes in the early 1990s for a new order of security and cooperation for all Europe, including Russia. It goes on to show how the liberal world order has broken down, one manifestation of this being the new conflict between Russia and Europe in recent years, a conflict resulting from the failure of European countries/the EU to acknowledge the actual balance of military, economic and political power, the lack of limits on the policy of European countries in terms of infringing on Russia’s interests, and Russia’s consequent revision, after 1999, of its policy of co-operation. Overall, the book provides huge insight into the nature of Europe-Russia relations.

An assessment of Russia that suggests that we should look beyond traditional means of power to understand its strength and capacity to disrupt international politics. Too often, we are told that Russia plays a weak hand well. But, perhaps the nation's cards are better than we know. Russia ranks significantly behind the US and China by traditional measures of power: GDP, population size and health, and military might. Yet 25 years removed from its mid-1990s nadir following the collapse of the USSR, Russia has become a supremely disruptive force in world politics. Kathryn E. Stoner assesses the resurrection of Russia and argues that we should look beyond traditional means of power to assess its strength in global affairs. Taking into account how Russian domestic politics under Vladimir Putin influence its foreign policy, Stoner explains how Russia has battled its way back to international prominence. From Russia's seizure of the Crimea from Ukraine to its military support for the Assad regime in Syria, the country has reasserted itself as a major global power. Stoner examines these developments and more in tackling the big questions about Russia's turnaround and global future. Stoner marshals data on Russia's political, economic, and social development and uncovers key insights from its domestic politics. Russian people are wealthier than the Chinese, debt is low, and fiscal policy is good despite sanctions and the volatile global economy. Vladimir Putin's autocratic regime faces virtually no organized domestic opposition. Yet, mindful of maintaining control at home, Russia under Putin also uses its varied power capacities to extend its influence abroad. While we often underestimate Russia's global influence, the consequences are evident in the disruption of politics in the US, Syria, and Venezuela, to name a few. Russia Resurrected is an eye-opening reassessment of the country, identifying the actual sources of its power in international politics and why it has been able to redefine the post-Cold War global order.

J. L. Black's latest work is a rich and carefully crafted attempt to expose the textures of Russia's perceptions of itself and its place in the world. Based almost entirely on Russian sources, Vladimir Putin and the New World Order argues that to understand Russian foreign policymaking, international situations must be viewed through the prism of Russian analysts and officials.

The book explores developments in Russia-China relations in the aftermath of the global economic crisis, arguing that the crisis transformed their bilateral affairs, regional liaisons and, crucially, altered the roles both states play on the international arena. Discussing how Russo-Chinese cooperation has accelerated in energy trade, arms sales and in the Russian Far East, the focus is on how the still mutually advantageous relationship has become more asymmetric than ever, reflecting China’s meteoric rise and Russia’s decline. These dynamics are explored through three perspectives: domestic, regional and global. Domestically, the book traces the role of political coalitions and key interest groups involved in how the two states shape their reciprocal policies. Changes in the regional dimension are examined with particular reference to a new status quo emerging in Central Asia. The book concludes by explaining how the changing relationship is affecting the international order, including the balance of power vis-à-vis the United States as well as Russia and China’s changing attitudes towards global governance.

The Sino-Russian Challenge to the World Order is the third volume in Gilbert Rozman's trilogy on national identity. The first two volumes, edited by Gilbert Rozman, concerned the identities of three East Asian countries: China, Japan, and South Korea. These books analyzed how these countries' national identities suffered through their relation to modernization, and examined how the national identity of each differed from the other two and how those differences were shaped by the relation of each country to the United States. In this third volume, Rozman examines Russia together with China. The Sino-Russian Challenge to the World Order argues that China and Russia's national identities are much closer to each other than usually thought, and are growing even closer. Moreover, the closeness of their identities comes neither from their prerevolutionary pasts nor from today's practical politics, but rather from habits carried over from their communist periods, even though the ideological dimensions of their identities have weakened since 1990.

Power has been compared to the weather: people discuss it all the time, but very few really understand it. This book seeks to demystify this complex concept by providing students with an incisive and engaging introduction to the shifting configurations of power in the contemporary global order. Drawing on the work of leading international relations scholars, philosophers and sociologists, the analysis goes beyond simplistic views of power as material capability, focusing also on its neglected social dimensions. These are developed and explored through a detailed examination of the changing international role, status and capacities of the United States, Russia and China since the end of the Cold War. Far from achieving multipolarity, the book concludes that the contemporary world remains essentially unipolar; America having moved to correct the mistakes of George W. Bush’s first term in office, while China and Russia have, in different ways, limited their own abilities to challenge American primacy. This book will be essential reading for students of international relations and politics, as well as anyone with an interest in the shifting balance of power in the global system.

Professor Liska argumenterer for en medinddragning af Rusland - selv et sovjetiseret Rusland - i et udvidet "Vesten", som efter de Gaulle og Vietnam trues mere og mere af indre forfald end af ydre farer og mere af økonomisk aggression fra det såkaldte "Syd" end af østlandenes militærmagt