Foreign Policy Aspects of the Activities of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the First Convocation (on the 30th Anniversary of the Start of Work)

Abstract

The article considers the foreign policy aspects of the activities of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the First convocation. The specifics of the main results of parliamentary votes of this period, which were related to international-political realities, in the context of their relationship with the conceptual foundations and implementation of Russian foreign policy, have been characterized. Features of the composition and nature of the activities of the lower house of the Russian parliament of this period have been identified. The conceptualization of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy has been analyzed. The initiatives and decisions of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the First convocation in the field of foreign policy and international relations have been assessed. It is shown that these were due to the specifics of its personal composition, where there was no strict factional discipline and a clear advantage of any political force, which determined the need for situational interaction. The normal work of the lower house of parliament became possible largely due to the efforts of its Chairman, who took a centrist position. It is substantiated that the State Duma, operating in conditions of complex socio-economic problems and the colossal weakening of Russia’s international political positions, demonstrated significant activity in international political initiatives that covered a wide range of topical issues with an emphasis on the situation in the states of the post-Soviet space. These decisions were relatively balanced, which was explained by the approximately equal distribution of resources between the so-called “left”, “right”, “centrists” and “national patriots”, as well as the presence of “common bloc” issues, positions on which coincided or did not cause obvious contradictions. The international political initiatives of the State Duma of the First convocation were distinguished by greater realism and emphasis on the protection of national interests than the content of conceptual documents and the foreign policy course pursued by the state. This happened against the background and simultaneously with the beginning of the process of rethinking the foreign policy approaches of the Russian Federation, which had a significant influence on it.