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1501. Rebranding Russia: Norms, Politics and Power

Author:
Andrey Makarychev
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This working paper argues that Russia is in the process of re-branding itself internationally, with a variety of normative arguments increasingly creeping into its wider international discourse. By appealing to norms, Russia tries to reformulate the key messages it sends to the world and implant the concept of its power worldwide. Yet given that Russia's normative messages are often met with scarce enthusiasm in Europe, it is of utmost importance to uncover how the normative segment in Russian foreign policy is perceived, evaluated and debated both inside Russia and elsewhere. Within this framework, this paper focuses on a set of case studies highlighting the normative and non-normative dimensions of Russian foreign policy. These include Russia-EU transborder cooperation, Moscow's policies towards Estonia, Poland, Ukraine/Georgia and the UK, Russian strategies in the 'war on terror' and energy issues.
Topic:
International Relations and Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Russia, United Kingdom, Europe, Ukraine, Asia, Poland, Moscow, Estonia, and Georgia

1502. The European Union as a Normative Foreign Policy Actor

Author:
Nathalie Tocci
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This is the second in a series of papers from a new project entitled “Who is a normative foreign policy actor? The European Union and its Global Partners”. The first paper – entitled Profiling Normative Foreign Policy: The European Union and its Global Partners, by Nathalie Tocci, CEPS Working Document No. 279, December 2007 – set out the conceptual framework for exploring this question. The present paper constitutes one of several case studies applying this framework to the behaviour of the European Union, whereas the others to follow concern China, India, Russia and the United States. A normative foreign policy is rigorously defined as one that is normative according to the goals set, the means employed and the results obtained. Each of these studies explores eight actual case examples of foreign policy behaviour, selected in order to illustrate four alternative paradigms of foreign policy behaviour – the normative, the realpolitik, the imperialistic and the status quo. For each of these four paradigms, there are two examples of EU foreign policy, one demonstrating intended consequences and the other, unintended effects. The fact that examples can be found that fit all of these different types shows the importance of 'conditioning factors', which relate to the internal interests and capabilities of the EU as a foreign policy actor as well as the external context in which other major actors may be at work.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Europe, and India

1503. Asian Power: Sino-Russian Conflict in Central Asia?

Author:
Kathleen J. Hancock
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
Abstract:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the state-owned gas monopoly, Gazprom, made front-page news when they ceased exporting natural gas to Ukraine in the winter of 2006, leaving Europe both irate and fearful due to its dependency on Russian energy. What many failed to notice was that Russia's actions wekre consistent with a fifteen year-old policy of playing hardball with former Soviet members using gas and oil pipelines as carrots and sticks to force policies and actions favorable to Moscow.Three of the states most affected by this pipeline diplomacy and least discussed in the Western press are the resource-rich Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. While energy-importing European states are vulnerable to Russia cutting supplies, exporting Central Asian states worry about Moscow shutting down pipeline access, without which they have few export options. The relationship between these states and Russia is further complicated by China's interest in Central Asia. Although Beijing and Moscow have recently patched up their rivalry, the increasing economic strength of both states plus jockeying between Russia and Central Asian states to serve as China's energy supplier may push Russia and China back into an antagonistic, and potentially dangerous, relationship.
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Beijing, Asia, Uzbekistan, Soviet Union, and Moscow

1504. The Myth of the Authoritarian Model: How Putin's Crackdown Holds Russia Back

Author:
Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
A growing conventional wisdom holds that Vladimir Putin's attack on democracy has brought Russia stability and prosperity -- providing a new model of successful market authoritarianism. But the correlation between autocracy and economic growth is spurious. Autocracy's effects in Russia have in fact been negative. Whatever the gains under Putin, they would have been greater under a democratic regime.
Political Geography:
Russia

1505. Europe's Eastern Promise: Rethinking NATO and EU Enlargement

Author:
Ronald D. Asmus
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
After the Cold War, NATO and the EU opened their doors to central and Eastern Europe, making the continent safer and freer than ever before. Today, NATO and the EU must articulate a new rationale for enlarging still further, once again extending democracy and prosperity to the East, this time in the face of a more powerful and defiant Russia.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Eastern Europe

1506. To the Editor: Russian Handshake

Author:
Harry C. Blaney III
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
To the Editor: Ronald Asmus' article "Europe's Eastern Promise" (January/February 2008) was right on the fundamental importance of promoting stability, security, and democracy in eastern Europe. However, such an approach should be combined with a Western strategy to engage Russia in major efforts to promote cooperation and Russia's integration with the West. Russia feels that the further extension of NATO toward its borders would not be in its interests. Although that may not be the overriding consideration in the West's decisions, it must remain part of any assessment of the long-term strategic situation and inform a larger vision for the area.
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

1507. Escaping Gazprom's Embrace

Author:
Borut Grgic and Alexandros Petersen
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
In the first month of 2008, Russia's state-controlled natural gas mono-poly, Gazprom, ticked off two more European countries that will rely almost entirely on Moscow for their everyday energy needs. On Janu¬ary 18th, Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by his anointed successor, Gazprom chairman Dmitri Medvedev, pressured the govern¬ment in Sofia into signing an energy deal with Russia and providing its backing for the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Bulgaria, and further into Europe, undercutting EU- and U.S.-backed plans for a pipeline from Turkey. Then, a week later, Serbian President Boris Tadic, accompanied by his prime minister, visited Moscow and signed on the dotted line, allowing Gazprom to acquire a 51 percent stake in Serbia's national oil company (NIS). The ambitious move not only strengthened energy links between the two Slavic nations, but bolstered ties between the two most vocal opponents of independence for Kosovo.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Kosovo, Moscow, Serbia, and Bulgaria

1508. Russia's "Nuclear Renaissance"

Author:
Victor Mizin
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
These days, Kremlinologists are once again immersed in the persistent post-Cold War question of “who lost Russia.” Whatever one might think about the future course of Russia, now emerging from its much-touted presidential elections, it is obvious that the Kremlin is bent on restoring the country's image as a great power on a par with the United States and Europe.
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Europe

1509. Casualty Sensitivity in a Post-Soviet Context: Russian Views of the Second Chechen War, 2001–2004

Author:
Theodore P. Gerber and Sarah E. Mendelson
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
THEODORE P. GERBER and SARAH E. MENDELSON analyze Russian public opinion about the second war in Chechnya. They show that concern over Russian military casualties and the war's economic costs were the dominant sentiments, despite the Russian government's monopoly on media coverage of the conflict. Moreover, they argue that the war appears to have fueled ethnic animosity toward Chechens.
Topic:
Government and War
Political Geography:
Russia and Chechnya

1510. Kosovo Independence: An Albanian Perspective

Author:
Enika Abazi
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
Kosovo's independence has revealed shifting strategic landscapes, security concerns and domestic developments in regional and international politics with significant implications for all actors in the region. Russia calculated to restore its lost 'superpower' status and control Serbia's strategic oil industries. Turkey's prompt recognition of independence increased its impact and prevented a stronger Greek-Serb- Russian axis in the region, while strengthening its Western identity. Kosovo's independence will be a test case for keeping peace and stability in the Balkans within the new dynamics of regional and international politics.
Topic:
International Relations and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Asia, Kosovo, Balkans, and Albania