Russia Between West and East
Abstract
Russia's foreign policy today seems to have passed a certain crossroads. After September 11, 2001, President Vladimir Putin sharply swerved the helm of our diplomacy westwards. This, in turn, triggered enthusiastic response as well as sharp criticism within Russia. In the main, the discussions focused on questions concerning the rationality of the pro-western course, its duration and an alternative alliance or union with the West. This paper aims to analyze the causes and consequences stemming from the given choice. It may be taken as an attempt to examine the problems both at the level of the ongoing theoretical debates between present-day Westernizers and Slavophiles, as well as from the point of view of policy in practice, all the more so since the President's definite choice is still subject to change. The August 2002 decision to conclude an economic agreement with Iraq and President Putin's meeting with North Korean President Kim Jong Il in Vladivostok in the same year seem to indicate that there still are forces in the Kremlin ready to orient Russia's foreign policy towards regimes that cannot, even by a long shot, be regarded as democratic.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA594222
Entities
People
- Dmitry Gorenburg
- Henry H. Gaffney
Organizations
- Center for Naval Analyses