Russian Foreign Policy and the Shaping of a ‘Greater Europe’

Abstract

The evolution of Russian foreign policy since the end of the Soviet Union has revealed linkages between the domestic and external dimensions of the foreign policy agenda, the multiplicity of actors involved in the shaping and making of decisions, and the variety of instruments available in both bilateral and multilateral contexts. Russian foreign policy rests on a multivectoral formula adopted soon after the end of the Soviet Union. This means it is organised around multiple vectors of a geopolitical nature, with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) constituting the most important vector, followed by the ‘Western’ (e.g. European Union (EU) and US) and ‘Eastern’ (e.g. China) vectors. The international system is understood by Russian foreign policy as polycentric with asymmetric power constellations promoting fundamental shifts in the international order, as demonstrated for example by the BRICS alignments. Also, normative considerations based on the United Nations (UN) Charter principles governing international security, such as the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs of states, indivisibility of security, human rights and freedoms, are in line with ‘Russia’s definition of a great power’. This ‘entails a normative dimension based on a type of order enshrining sovereignty, non-interventionism and a pluralism of regime types’ (Sakwa, 2012: 322).