Russia and Asia-Pacific Security: The Maritime Dimension

Abstract

Russia is shifting its foreign policy focus to the Asia-Pacific region because of internal (the necessity to develop Siberia and the Far East) and external (a deepening crisis in relations with the West) factors. For this policy to be a success, Russia needs a stable and predictable regional milieu while confrontation in Asia-Pacific security is on the rise. Evidence for this assessment is provided by the current state of regional maritime security challenges. They are evolving at a faster pace than the regional mechanisms and institutions aimed to keep them within manageable bounds. The simultaneous rise of the global dimension in the main challenges to Asia-Pacific maritime security — primarily the set of issues related to the South China Sea — call for the increased involvement of an established global actor with significant economic potential, independent foreign policy and genuine interest in preserving peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. In the current circumstances, this role cannot but be assumed by Russia. The paper discusses the specificity of current Asia-Pacific maritime security trends, Russia’s regional priorities and policy instruments which could be used to decrease tensions in the key regional maritime security challenges