Russia's Foreign Policy: Ideas, Domestic Politics and External Relations (Palgrave Studies in International Relations)

This edited volume analyses the evolution and main determinants of Russia's foreign policy choices. Containing contributions by renowned specialists on the topic, the study sheds light on some of the new trends that have characterised Russia's foreign policy since the beginning of Vladimir Putin's third presidential term. Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Introduction....Pages 1-9 Front Matter....Pages 11-11 Russian Foreign Policy Themes in Official Documents and Speeches: Tracing Continuity and Change....Pages 13-29 Russian Foreign Policy as Exercise in Nation Building....Pages 30-41 How Vladimir Putin’s World View Shapes Russian Foreign Policy....Pages 42-61 Front Matter....Pages 63-63 Dualism at Home and Abroad: Russian Foreign Policy Neo-revisionism and Bicontinentalism....Pages 65-79 The Rising Cost of Russia’s Authoritarian Foreign Policy....Pages 80-96 Russia’s Foreign Policy and Soft Power....Pages 97-113 Front Matter....Pages 115-115 Mismatched Partners: US-Russia Relations after the Cold War....Pages 117-137 Refracting Europe: Biopolitical Conservatism and Art Protest in Putin’s Russia....Pages 138-155 Policies towards the Post-Soviet Space: The Eurasian Economic Union as an Attempt to Develop Russia’s Structural Power?....Pages 156-174 Russia and Asia-Pacific: Diversification or Sinocentrism?....Pages 175-188 Russia in International Organizations: The Shift from Defence to Offence....Pages 189-203 Conclusion: Foreign Policy as the Continuation of Domestic Politics by Other Means....Pages 204-216 Back Matter....Pages 217-245 The Ukraine crisis in 2014 took many observers by surprise. Its magnitude and implications necessitate a better understanding of the drivers of Russia's actions in international politics. Russia's Foreign Policy: Ideas, Domestic Politics and External Relations analyses the evolution and main determinants of Russia's foreign policy choices. Its various chapters, written by renowned specialists in the field, shed light on and attempt to explain some of the new trends : including an increasingly nationalistic tone in foreign policy discourse and a heightened level of animosity towards Europe, characterizing Russia's contemporary policy. This study posits that Russia's behaviour is driven above all by objectives and imperatives linked to domestic regime consolidation. That is to say, Russia's foreign policy is the continuation of domestic politics by other means