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Russia's Foreign Policy

Change and Continuity in National Identity

  • Textbook
Russia's Foreign Policy cover

Russia's Foreign Policy

Change and Continuity in National Identity

  • Textbook
£35.92

Please note that this product is not available for purchase from Bloomsbury websites.

Description

Now fully updated and revised, this clear and comprehensive text explores contemporary Soviet/Russian international relations, comparing foreign policy formation under Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Medvedev, and Putin. Challenging conventional views of Moscow’s foreign policy, Andrei Tsygankov shows that definitions of national interest depend on visions of national identity and are rooted both in history and domestic politics. Yet the author also highlights the role of the external environment in affecting the balance of power among competing domestic groups.

Drawing on both Russian and Western sources, Tsygankov traces how Moscow’s policies have shifted under different leaders’ visions of Russia’s national interests. He gives an overview of the ideas and pressures that motivated Russian foreign policy in six different periods: the Gorbachev era of the late 1980s, the liberal “Westernizers” era under Kozyrev in the early 1990s, the relatively hardline statist policy under Primakov, the more pragmatic course of limited cooperation under Putin and then Medvedev, and the assertive policy Putin has implemented since his return to power. Evaluating the successes and failures of Russian foreign policies, Tsygankov explains its many turns as Russia’s identity and interaction with the West have evolved. The book concludes with reflections on the emergence of the post-Western world and the challenges it presents to Russia’s enduring quest for great power status along with its desire for a special relationship with Western nations.

Table of Contents

Note on the Transliteration
List of Tables
Chronology of Key Foreign Policy Events, 1985–2015
Preface

Chapter 1: Understanding Change and Continuity in Russia’s Foreign Policy
Chapter 2: The Cold War Crisis and the Soviet New Thinking
Chapter 3: Post–Cold War Euphoria and Russia’s Liberal Westernism
Chapter 4: New Security Challenges and Great Power Balancing
Chapter 5: The World after September 11 and Pragmatic Cooperation
Chapter 6: U.S. Regime Change Strategy and Great Power Assertiveness
Chapter 7: Global Instability and Russia’s Vision of Modernization
Chapter 8: The West, the Non-West, and Russia’s “Civilizational” Turn
Chapter 9: Conclusions and Lessons

Essential Reading
Topics for Discussion or Simulation
Index
About the Author

Product details

Published 15 Jan 2016
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 4th
Extent 336
ISBN 9781442254039
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations 40 Tables
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Andrei P. Tsygankov

Andrei P. Tsygankov is a professor of Internationa…

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