Russia in Asia in 1997: Moving beyond the "Strategic Partnership"

Abstract

The Russian Federation's policy in Asia has changed dramatically in just a few years. From a blustering, unsophisticated, and largely unwelcome intruder to the Asian club, Russia has recently emerged as one of the more active and accommodative players in post-Cold War Asia. While Russia lacks the clout the Soviet Union once wielded in world affairs, the Yeltsin government has begun to gain respect for its steady diplomatic efforts to mend relations with its neighbors. In the early 1990s, Russia focused mostly on restoring ties with China. But in the mid-1990s, it has begun to diversify its contacts across Asia, putting into action Russian official declarations regarding the multipolar post-Cold War world. This new, balanced policy may also reflect the growing domestic weight of Russia's powerful business cartels in steering the Yeltsin administration toward a greater focus on economics, investment, and trade over politics. In the past year, Russia has made considerable efforts to upgrade economic links with Japan, the Republic of Korea, and India. Thus, while the strategic partnership with China may anchor Russian policy in Asia, that relationship no longer dominates or rules out mutually beneficial ties with other capitals. On a broader political front, the team of Foreign Minister Evgeniy Primakov and Deputy Foreign Minister for East Asia Grigoriy Karasin has ushered in an active policy of shuttle diplomacy. They have turned from one summit to another in 1997 in an attempt to smooth over long-standing territorial disputes and put a more solid footing under several still-tentative relationships. Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov played active roles in bringing the weight of the Russian govern-