Neue Herausforderungen für die russische Zentralasienpolitik

Russlands Beziehungen zu den zentralasiatischen Staaten waren lange Zeit von Kontinuität geprägt. Im Vordergrund standen traditionell sicherheitspolitische und wirtschaftliche Interessen. Seit 2001 werden diese Beziehungen durch das verstärkte Engagement der USA im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus einerseits und durch potentielle „bunte Revolutionen“ im Zusammenhang mit Wahlen andererseits vor neue Herausforderungen gestellt. Die russische Führung reagiert restaurativ, indem sie gegenüber den USA einen Kurs der kompetitiven Koexistenz verfolgt und autoritär-repressive Politiken zentralasiatischer Präsidenten deckt

Russian foreign policy in the realm of European security through the lens of neoclassical realism

There are different views on (in-)predictability and on (non-)cooperation in Russian foreign policy towards the West, but also on the question about how - that is, through which theoretical framework - to interpret it. This essay aims at contributing to the debate around these three issues. Its goal is to demonstrate the expediency of using a neoclassical realist theoretical perspective, enhanced by the inclusion of such subjective factors as status/prestige and perceptions. While there are factors in Russian domestic and foreign policy which give it a certain degree of unpredictability, nevertheless, if it is studied in a comprehensive way, it turns out to be more consistent and predictable than it at first seems. Even though Russia is often accused of being anti-Western and non-cooperative, this argument does not hold true: Russian foreign policy is selective and includes both cooperative and non-cooperative tactics

Gazprom - Challenges at Home and Abroad

ISSN:1863-042