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Russia's new FP in CIS region - Coggle Diagram
Russia's new FP in CIS region
Russia's struggle to define other states in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse
The struggle to define other states influenced foreign policy by giving rise to the assertion of Russian primacy in the region
ALLISON - Russian officials reluctant to view post-Soviet states as similar in status to other former states, which gave rise to term ‘near abroad’ as seemingly appropriate way of describing this group of newly independent states
Separation and independence = temporary phenomena in minds of Russians
Extent to which new overnight borders were even taken seriously by new states themselves is up for debate. Central Asian leaders became reluctant leaders of sovereign states, though soon appreciated the new powers they had
LIGHT - both democrats and nationalists found it difficult to accept that some areas of the USSR were no longer part of Russia
Given many Russians held view they helped subsidise former republics of the SU, LIGHT points out they resented attitudes of the newly-independent states to Russia and became more assertive about Russia’s past burdens and present rights
Russian structures of policy making and receipt of information about the CIS states were rudimentary for years
The issue of Russian diaspora politics
Issue of diaspora politics influenced foreign policy by allowing Russia to lay claim to being the defender of Russian speakers throughout the newly independent states
Disintegration of USSR and subsequent emergence of independent nation-states with clearly defined borders resulted in 25m Russian speakers finding themselves within territories of Russian near abroad
KOSMARSKAYA - Russia essentially became an “external homeland” for a vast number of the diaspora scattered throughout the newly independent states
Clear to see how the attitudes of Russian policymakers could be shaped by an understanding of the need to take responsibility for protecting Russian speakers who now found themselves outside of their homeland
KING AND MELVIN - Russian diaspora politics legitimated an active engagement with the internal and external affairs of the new states of Eurasia
Russia assumed degree of responsibility for Russian speakers across region and used the presence of diaspora communities to strengthen claims to be heavily involved in affairs of those countries within the near abroad
Ultimately, by leveraging diaspora politics as a foreign policy tool, Russia sought to establish itself as protector of Russian minorities in CIS states that were part of near abroad
Russia's defence and security concerns
Defence and security concerns paved the way for Moscow to legitimate its intervention and assertiveness in the region
Need to secure the transfer to Russia of strategic nuclear weapons that constituted parts of the former Soviet Union’s arsenal
SAKWA AND WEBBER - Collapse of USSR resulted in strategic nuclear weapons spread across 4 of the newly independent states: Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus
As inheritor of institutional structures of Soviet foreign and security policy, issue was of paramount importance for Russia
DEYERMOND argues out of every security issue raised as result of breakup of USSR, “this was undoubtedly the one that caused the greatest immediate concern and interest”
By beginning of 1992, policymakers settled on idea that Russian policy should promote close economic, military and security ties. This was in part driven by further security concerns in relation to spill-over effects of regional conflicts on periphery, which threatened to destabilise Russia (e.g., Tajikistan Civil War)
Need to prevent existing local conflicts from spilling over to Russia was core concern that informed Russia’s foreign policy towards the near abroad
Through creation of CIS and assertion of Russian primacy in ‘near abroad,’ Russia further legitimated its intervention in the region and claimed for itself the role of guaranteeing security and resolving localised conflicts