Russia in the Indo-Pacific: New Approaches to Russian Foreign Policy (Politics in Asia)

This volume zones in on Russia’s relations with the Indo-Pacific region through the lens of theoretical pluralism, presenting alternatives to the mainstream Realist view of Russia as a major power using geopolitical strategies to establish itself. Russia in the Indo-Pacific is an understudied topic that needs a fresh perspective. Contributors to this volume are based across Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the USA, drawing on a range of multinational perspectives and theoretical approaches encompassing realism and liberalism, constructivism and the English school of international relations. Reflecting a trend of internationalization in the Russian study of IR, such theoretical pluralism could facilitate Russian contributions to emerging global IR theory. __Russia in the Indo-Pacific__ contributes towards a more intelligible common discourse in the Indo-Pacific, of interest to students and scholars of Sino-Russian relations, Indo-Pacific international relations, and international relations theory. It will also be of interest to policymakers and general readers following foreign policy and economic trends in the Indo-Pacific who want to better understand Russia's role. This volume zones in on Russia’s relations with the Indo-Pacific region through the lens of theoretical pluralism, presenting alternatives to the mainstream Realist view of Russia as a major power using geopolitical strategies to establish itself. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of tables 8 Contributors 9 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction 14 Russian realism in Asia 14 The Soviet-era legacy 17 Explaining Russian foreign policy behavior 17 Constructivism and Eurasianism 18 Asian IR theory 19 A Russian IR theory 19 In this volume 21 Triangular relations 22 Foreign policy identities 22 Russia’s regional relations 22 Domestic sources of foreign policy 23 Conclusion 23 References 24 Part 1: China, Russia, and US: triangular relations 26 Chapter 1: China–Russia relations in times of crisis: A neoclassical realist explanation 28 Analytical framework: neoclassical realism 30 The pattern of China’s and Russia’s reactions 32 China’s reaction pattern to the Ukraine crisis 32 Russia’s reaction to the SCS dispute 35 Systemic and unit-level factors in China’s and Russia’s reaction to the crises 37 China’s interests in the post-Soviet space and sensitivity to territorial disputes 38 Russia’s reorientation to Asia and interests in East and Southeast Asia 40 Conclusion 41 Notes 42 References 43 Chapter 2: Russia and the United States in Asia-Pacific: A Perspective of the English School 48 The hegemonic US grand strategy 49 The English School and Russia: an unlikely affinity 49 State-Centrism 50 The balance of power 50 Concert of powers 51 Nuclear weapons 53 Culture and values 53 Countering US hegemony in Asia-Pacific 54 The North Korea nuclear problem and the US–China–Russia strategic triangle 57 Conclusion 60 Notes 61 References 62 Chapter 3: Russia, China, and the American Dilemma 65 An evolving triangular game 67 The American Dilemma 79 Notes 81 Part 2: Foreign policy identities 84 Chapter 4: Primordial rites or civic values?: Korean identity and its formation in the Russian Far East 86 Introduction 86 “Constructivism plus”: primordial and constructed cultures 88 Korean diaspora in the Russian Far East 91 First Korean settlers in Primorskiy Province 91 Sakhalin Koreans 93 North Korean workers 94 Korean diaspora in Primorskiy Province and its main cultural identifiers 96 Conclusion 100 Notes 101 Sources Cited 102 Chapter 5: Strategic partnership or alliance?: Sino-Russian relations from a constructivist perspective 1 105 Identity in Wendt’s constructivist theory 107 Identity in China’s and Russia’s perspectives on constructivist theory and the cultural formation of their foreign policy 108 The development of a common identity as the foundation for the Sino-Russian strategic partnership 112 Harmony and honor in China’s and Russia’s foreign policy 114 China’s “harmonious” way to solve disputes 114 Russia’s honor response to conflicts with others 116 The differences in Sino-Russian identities and the impossibility of alliance 118 Conclusion 119 Notes 123 References 123 Part 3: Russia’s regional relations 130 Chapter 6: The Sino-Russian partnership and the East Asian order 132 The English School and international order 132 Sino-Russian great power management and order in East Asia 133 The Sino-Russian challenge to the US-led order in East Asia 137 Opposition to the THAAD system and expansion of the US alliance system 137 Nonproliferation to nonnuclear states 138 Limited role for outside powers 139 Noninterference in the domestic affairs of authoritarian states 139 Crisis management in territorial disputes 141 Parallel policy efforts 144 The Philippines 145 Burma 147 The Sino-Russian order versus the US alliance system 148 The Trump factor 150 Conclusion 150 Acknowledgment 151 Note 152 References 152 Chapter 7: The vestige of history and “cold peace” between Russia and Japan 160 Introduction 160 The Cold War decades 161 Early post-Cold War years 163 Late twentieth–early twenty-first centuries: regional dynamic and its impact on Russian–Japanese relations 166 The Ukraine crisis and implications for Russia–Japan relations 171 Territorial stalemate and cold peace in recent Russia–Japan relations 176 The growing military significance of the disputed islands 178 Unfavorable public opinion in both countries 181 Conclusion 182 Notes 185 Chapter 8: Sino-Russian accommodation and adaptation in Eurasian regional order formation 1 192 Russian Far East in the silk road economic belt 193 Eastern Economic Forum 2015 194 Redefining regional order 196 Chinese responses to the greater Eurasian partnership 198 Japan and China at the 2016 Eastern Economic Forum 199 2017 Eastern Economic Forum 201 2018 Eastern Economic Forum 202 2019 Eastern Economic Forum 204 Conclusion 205 Note 207 References 207 Chapter 9: Russia and Southeast Asia: The road less traveled 211 Introduction 211 Theoretical perspectives on Russia and Southeast Asia relations 211 Geopolitical setting in Southeast Asia 212 Small states and big powers 213 Post-cold war Russia in a “crowded” region 214 Southeast Asia in the Russian scheme of foreign policies 215 Russian pivot and relations with ASEAN/Southeast Asia 217 Southeast Asia’s utility and links with Russia 218 Revisionist or status quo? 222 Prospects for long-term Russia–Southeast Asia relations 224 Conclusion 228 Acknowledgments 229 Notes 229 Part 4: Domestic sources of foreign policy 236 Chapter 10: The significance of Russia to China: Research methods on Russia and the Soviet Union 238 Introduction 238 The significance of Russia to China 238 Evolution and inadequacy of China’s Russian and Soviet research 245 Methodology discussion of Russian and Soviet studies 253 Conclusion 259 Notes 261 Chapter 11: Russian methodological and theoretical approaches to the analysis of Sino-Russian relations in 1990s–2010s 1 . 265 Debate on Non-western IR and development of Russian IR 266 Academic and expert centers and discussion formats 268 Dynamics of the research on Sino-Russian relations in Russia in the 1990s to 2000s. 269 Research on Sino-Russian bilateral contacts 269 Analysis of Sino-Russian IR 270 Development of the analysis of Sino-Russian relations in the 2010s 271 Analysis of Sino-Russian relations in the context of a changing world order 271 Debate on the emergence of a formalized Sino-Russian alliance 273 Analysis of Sino-Russian relations in multilateral formats 274 Strategic triangles: China–Russia–US and Russia–India–China (RIC) 274 BRICS 275 Sino-Russian relations in the Eurasian region 276 China and Russia in the SCO 276 Analysis of the coordination of BRI and EEU and the debate on greater Eurasia 277 Analysis of bilateral ties between Russia and China 278 Continuously researched focal issues in the analysis of Bilateral contacts 278 New trends 279 Conclusion 280 Note 281 References 282 Index 292 international,relations;,Russia;,Russian,politics;,Asian,politics;,Indo-pacific,region;,geopolitics;,Western,IR,theory;,global,IR,theory international relations,Russia,Russian politics,Asian politics,Indo-pacific region,geopolitics,Western IR theory,global IR theory