Russian Federation
Russian Federation
The present text is a preprint of the first chapter of the textbook Contemporary International Relations: Regions and Centers of Power, prepared by a team from the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO University (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation). It examines Russia’s strategy for shaping a polycentric world order amid the transformation of the international system in 2008–2025. The authors focus on the evolution of Russia’s foreignpolicy strategy against the backdrop of the crisis of the unipolar model, the intensification of strategic rivalry among leading powers, and the renewed salience of force in global politics. The analysis develops two cross-cutting lines of inquiry. The first addresses Russia’s relations with the West: Moscow’s responses to NATO enlargement, debates on European security within the OSCE framework, the attempted “reset” of Russia–U.S. relations, and the reasons for its failure. The authors examine in detail Russia’s strategy in key international crises—from the Georgian–South Ossetian conflict to the events of the “Arab Spring” and the Ukrainian crisis—treating them as elements of a broader clash between competing visions of worldorder development. The second line focuses on the eastern vector of Russia’s foreign policy and the “emerging multipolarity” in Eurasia. The conceptual articulation of “multipolarity” by Yevgeny Primakov subsequently found practical expression in deepened cooperation between Russia and China, India, and other Eurasian and Global South states, as well as in the creation of multilateral integration and institutional formats. The publication will be of interest to students of international relations, instructors, and all readers concerned with contemporary international issues and Russia’s foreign policy.
Russia, foreign policy; strategy; multipolarity; world order; NATO enlargement; United States
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