Geopolitical interests of Russia in post-soviet space: Southern border

Abstract

The paper presents the results of studying Russia’s geopolitical interests in regions of the former Soviet Union, which form the southern section of its state border, i.e., in the Caucasian geopolitical region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), in partially recognized states (Abkhazia and South Ossetia), and in the Central Asian geopolitical region (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan). The military-political, territorial, social, economic, and environmental interests of Russia in these regions are identified and considered. Their qualitative and quantitative evaluations are given, and their importance in shaping the regional priorities of Russian foreign policy is geographically justified. Russia’s place in foreign trade for each geopolitical region is identified. The paper’s focus is on the dynamics of geopolitical interests in the post-Soviet period. Based on the results of rating of Russia’s geopolitical interests in each region, types of post-Soviet countries are identified with respect to their foreign policy towards Russia, i.e., potential allies, hypothetical opponents, and neutral countries.