Russian National Security And Foreign Policy In Transition

Russian international relations has undergone profound changes in the last fifteen years that have effected both the Russian view of the world and the outside perspective of the Russian Federation. These changes will undoubtedly play an integral part of Russian foreign relations for years to come. And yet the question remains, how has Russian influence adapted to the post-Soviet world order? In this critical analysis, Andrei Melville sheds light on the complexities of Russian foreign policy from 1991 to 2004. Divided into three parts, the book presents official translated documents in the first section that outline, among other things, the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the military doctrine of the Russian Federation, and the agreement on security and cooperation between NATO and Russia. These documents are an essential first step in understanding the shape and context of Russian foreign policy from the demise of the Soviet Union up to the present. The second section of the book is composed of official statements from Russia leaders who are seeking to define the next generation of Russian international relations. Among the statements is Vladimir Putin's illuminating essay on Russia at the turn of the century. It is here where Putin defines the Russian policy of a strong state, efficient economy, and social solidarity. In addition, former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov provides a statement on the hopes and obstacles for international relations in the 21st century. The authors of the remaining three papers have also served as Prime Ministers or foreign ministers in the Russian government during the past decade. The final section of the book is composed ofanalysis from scholars and Russian foreign policy experts. The analysis addresses a wide range of topics from the crisis in Kosovo to Russian-Chinese relations. Here, the official documents, statements, and policies of the Russian Federation are cast in a different light, bringing to surface the tough questions, the challenges, and the promises that face Russian foreign policy in the future. Putin's "new course" or "foreign policy therapy" is analyzed by specialists who observe their subject at short range.

This study is an examination and assessment of critical trends in the evolution of Russian thinking on foreign and national security policy in recent years. The consensus of the Gorbachev and Yeltsin eras that promised rapprochement with the West has been replaced by a new consensus that is pushing Russia toward a more aloof position vis-a-vis the Western alliance as leaders grapple with problems along Russia's immediate periphery and seek to rebuild Russia's sphere of influence. A key issue is the contradiction between U.S. recognition of the newly independent states around Russia's periphery and Russia's special role of oversight throughout the former Soviet Union and pursuit of national interests that might impinge on its neighbor's sovereignty. U.S. policymakers face the task of balancing the newly independent states' right to sovereignty against the need to restore order in a given region and the desire to sustain continuity in U.S.-Russian relations. Although there are no easy solutions, the Western community can play a constructive role while remaining on the periphery.

As Russia's economy has grown, so have the country's global involvement and influence, which often take forms that the United States neither expects nor likes. The authors assess Russia's strategic interests and goals, examining the country's domestic policies, economic development, security goals, and worldview. They assess implications for U.S. interests and present ways that Washington could work to improve its relations with Moscow.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has developed a powerful business community and a potent network of transnational organized groups. Russian Business Power explores the powerful impact these new actors are having on the evolution of the Russian state and its foreign behaviour. Unlike other books, which focus either on Russia's foreign and security policy, or on the evolution of Russian business, legal and illegal, within the context of Russia's domestic transition, this book considers how far Russia's foreign and security policy is shaped by business. It considers a wide range of issues, including energy, the arms trade, international drug flows, and human trafficking, and examines the impact of Russian business in Russia's dealings with Western and Eastern Europe, the Caspian, the Caucasus and the Far East.

This book surveys Russia's relations with the world since 1992 and assesses the future prospect for the foreign policy of Europe's largest country. Together these essays offer an authoritative summary and assessment of Russia's relations with its neighbors and with the rest of the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The essays gathered here represent a panel at SSI's annual Russia conference in 2011. They focus on the analysis of Russian foreign policy both on its material side or actual conduct as well as on the cognitive bases of Russian thinking about international affairs and Russian national security. They span much of the gamut of that foreign policy and also show its strong linkages to the Russian historical tradition and to the imperatives of Russian domestic development.

In a truly contemporary analysis of Moscow's relations with its neighbors and other strategic international actors, Nikolas K. Gvosdev and Christopher Marsh use a comprehensive vectors approach, dividing the world into eight geographic zones. Each vector chapter looks at the dynamics of key bilateral relationships while highlighting major topical issues—oil and energy, defense policy, economic policy, the role of international institutions, and the impact of major interest groups or influencers—demonstrating that Russia formulates multiple, sometimes contrasting, foreign policies. Providing rich historical context as well as exposure to the scholarly literature, Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors offers an incisive look at how and why Russia partners with some states while it counter-balances others.

This timely study provides a clear analysis of both the domestic and foreign policies and security issues confronting Russia s largest and most important neighbor during its first decade as an independent state. Roman Solchanyk emphasizes throughout the book, the complex, centuries-old Ukrainian-Russian relationship, which is so central that the Russian question plays the determining role in Ukraine s foreign and domestic politics. In turn, the policy choices of Ukraine s leaders influence the direction of Russia s own transformation. The book opens with a conceptual framework that addresses the key issues of the Ukrainian-Russian relationship. The initial chapters illustrate how relations between Kyiv and Moscow changed in the final analysis, dramatically under the conditions of a crumbling and ultimately collapsing Soviet state. This is followed by a discussion of how the Russian question influences Ukraine s internal developments political, social, and economic as well as its behavior in the international arena. The concluding chapters focus specifically on Crimea, a microcosm of the Ukrainian-Russian relationship. Basing his argument on a wealth of primary source material, the author argues that the success of both Ukraine s and Russia s nation- and state-building projects will be largely determined by the normalization of their historically conditioned relationship. Indeed, success or failure will profoundly influence the direction of regional and European foreign policy and security."