Environment in Times of War

The impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine has been devastating both politically and environmentally. On top of the environmental damage directly caused by military operations, the invasion has put an abrupt end to the EU-Russia “green cooperation”, which had previously raised many hopes. At the same time, it has also shifted international attention away from climate and environmental concerns, which are particularly acute in the post-Soviet region. This Report analyses some of the main climate change and environmental issues in the post-Soviet space, providing an initial assessment of the invasion’s impact. The bulk of the latest scholarly and policy production on these matters focuses on Russia – given the country’s geopolitical and energy relevance. However, this analysis finds that environmental disasters such as the desertification of the Aral Sea transcend state borders and require a broader approach both from an analytic and policy standpoint.Publishe

Russia and China. Anatomy of a Partnership

While the “decline of the West” is now almost taken for granted, China’s impressive economic performance and the political influence of an assertive Russia in the international arena are combining to make Eurasia a key hub of political and economic power. That, certainly, is the story which Beijing and Moscow have been telling for years. Are the times ripe for a “Eurasian world order”? What exactly does the supposed Sino-Russian challenge to the liberal world entail? Are the two countries’ worsening clashes with the West drawing them closer together? This ISPI Report tackles every aspect of the apparently solidifying alliance between Moscow and Beijing, but also points out its growing asymmetries. It also recommends some policies that could help the EU to deal with this “Eurasian shift”, a long-term and multi-faceted power readjustment that may lead to the end of the world as we have known it

Russia's Foreign Policy

Who decides what in Moscow? The answer is not always “Vladimir Putin”. However, when explaining Russia’s foreign policy, the consolidation of Putin’s autocratic tendencies and his apparent stability despite many economic and political challenges have contributed – at least in the West – to an excessive “Putin-centrism” and the relative neglect of other agents of domestic politics. As a result, many facets of the country’s foreign policy decisions are misunderstood or shrouded under a thin veil of vagueness and secrecy. This Report attempts to fill this gap, exploring the evolving distribution of political and economic power under the surface of Putin’s leadership to assess the influence of different “lobbies” on Russia’s foreign policy. All of the contributions in the volume underline the complexity of Russia’s decision-making process beneath the surface of a monolithic and increasingly personalistic government.Publishe

Forward to the Past? New/Old Theatres of Russia’s International Projection

Russia seems to be back in many “old” theatres where the Soviet Union was actively engaged. More than a quarter of a century after the fall of the USSR, it is clear that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has made restoring Russia’s great power status a primary goal of his twenty years in power. Political and historical links dating back to the Cold War have been capitalised upon to build fresh partnerships and cement or re-establish Russia’s influence in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Just as the Soviet Union supported Western communist parties and ran disinformation campaigns, today’s Russia is accused of meddling with the electoral processes of several Western countries. What are the elements of continuity and change when comparing Russia’s foreign policy with the Soviet Union’s?This ISPI Report tackles the political, historical, military and economic dimensions of Russia’s return to old Soviet theatres of influence. In particular, it delves into their implications for the development of the multipolar world order long-advocated by Moscow

Arka bahçede bir nüfuz alanı inşa etmek: Türk ve Rus yumuşak gücünün karşılaştırılmalı bir analizi.

This thesis analyses how Russia and Turkey under the governments of Vladimir Putin (2000 to date) and Tayyip Erdoğan (2003 to date) respectively, understand and implement the concept of soft power to construct/re-affirm their zones of influence in their shared neighbourhoods with the EU. Building on existing literature, this thesis argues that, in its original formulation, the concept of soft power has liberal biases that complicate its application to non- or partially liberal states, such as Russia and Turkey. A different definition rooted in some concepts by the political theorist Antonio Gramsci – especially, ̳hegemony‘ and ̳common sense‘ is proposed. This revised definition is operationalised through soft power narratives and applied it through the empirical analysis of two case studies – Armenia for Russia and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) for Turkey. This thesis, thus, carries out: I) a comparative analysis of the commonalities and differences between Turkish and Russian understandings and use of soft power, and II) an empirical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of these narratives in the two specific case studies. This thesis aims to contribute to the soft power literature through a theoretical reflection about the concept and its empirical application in the case of Turkey and Russia.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

Forward to the Past? New/Old Theatres of Russia’s International Projection

Russia seems to be back in many “old” theatres where the Soviet Union was actively engaged. More than a quarter of a century after the fall of the USSR, it is clear that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has made restoring Russia’s great power status a primary goal of his twenty years in power. Political and historical links dating back to the Cold War have been capitalised upon to build fresh partnerships and cement or re-establish Russia’s influence in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Just as the Soviet Union supported Western communist parties and ran disinformation campaigns, today’s Russia is accused of meddling with the electoral processes of several Western countries. What are the elements of continuity and change when comparing Russia’s foreign policy with the Soviet Union’s? This ISPI Report tackles the political, historical, military and economic dimensions of Russia’s return to old Soviet theatres of influence. In particular, it delves into their implications for the development of the multipolar world order long-advocated by Moscow

Making the Best Out of a Crisis: Russia’s Health Diplomacy during COVID-19

The article considers how Russia has reacted to the pandemic, especially in terms of foreign policy. Although internally the management of the pandemic has led to a further limitation of citizens’ freedoms, externally it has been exploited to improve the country’s image and strengthen its leverage through tactical activism and political generosity. Russia’s strategy has been articulated in two phases: first, immediate aid to countries in need in order to channel the idea of a benevolent state, directly or indirectly discrediting other countries or organisations; second, the geopolitical use of vaccines. The article stresses the relationship between science and foreign policy and analyses Russia’s health diplomacy strategy, underscoring its opportunities and challenges through the analysis of two case studies (Italy and Belarus). From a methodological perspective, the article mainly refers to foreign policy analysis (FPA), using concepts such as soft power, health diplomacy, and geopolitics

War and decarbonisation: EU-Russia energy relations in crisis

The EU’s introduction of the European Green Deal and adoption of a far-reaching decarbonisation agenda in 2019-2021 cast serious doubts on the future of EU-Russia trade in fossil fuels. Russia’s recent military attack against Ukraine and the subsequent Western reaction have accelerated the EU’s attempts to disentangle itself from dependence on Russian energy supplies. The Union’s ongoing confrontation with Russia currently makes prospects for a ‘greener’ type of energy cooperation implausible. At the same time, Russia remains the fifth largest CO2 emitter (after China, the US, the EU and India) and a central actor in terms of ‘green’ resources - i.e. forests, critical minerals for the energy transition; hence its involvement in efforts to fight climate change will be important to attain global climate goals. This chapter assesses the implications of the European Green Deal and recent EU plans to reduce imports from Russia for the EU-Russia energy relationship. Subsequently, it examines potential options for interaction in the energy transition, which could help pursue the global climate agenda when the political situation will allow for it