Russia's Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity by Andrei Tsygankov (review)

Abstract

l66 SEER, 87, I, JANUARY 2OO9 special attention to the issues of wartime property confiscations within the context of the 'former'-Yugoslavia. The fourth, and final section, could be entitied 'Regional Polities', as the three chapters it incorporates are direcdy linked to the wider South-East European local political environment, looking at the development of the foreign policy positions of Bulgaria, Albania and Turkey. These are authored by Philip Shashko, Carole Hodge and Ali Karaosmanoglu respectively. The listof the topics addressed includes an attempt to characterize theplace of the Balkans within Turkish foreign policy; an extensive and informative account of Bulgaria's post-Communist political evolution, with a revealing glimpse of divisions within Bulgarian society over the country's EU appeasement in recent years, and an assessment of theAlbanian geopolitical position in the context of its relationship with Greece and Italy. The last article contains an intriguingprognosis on the political future forAlbania, based on the analysis of several alternative scenarios. This book can be commended for its multi-faceted, opinion-forming approach and the variety ofmaterials on the subject that it offers.On the other hand, a careful reader would easily note that itdoes have a number of shortcomings of the sort which may usually be found in conflict studies related publications, namely the frequent absence of a neutral assessment, too much emotion and, in some cases, one-sidedness. Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend thisbook to students as a good reference guide on the emergence, development and continuing process of resolutions of the Balkan crisis as itprogressed with us into the new millennium. Department of History A. A. Fedorov Universityof Derby Tsygankov, Andrei. Russia's Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity inNational Identity. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, Boulder, CO, New York and Oxford, 2006. xxvi + 217 pp. Chronology. Tables. Notes. Further reading. Index. $24.95 (paperback). Andrei Tsygankov has produced a very impressive account of Russian foreign policy covering the period from the last decade of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev through to themiddle of 2005. The author states that his objective is not to break new ground in empirical research but rather to pro vide a textuseful for teaching purposes. This claim is far toomodest. Whilst the book is in fact a perfect fitfor undergraduate courses on Russian politics and foreign policy it is also much more than this. It is a very coherent analy sis of how Moscow's policies have changed over time due to a variety of internal and external factors. The book will be of great use also to scholars, policy-makers and the general interested public. There are few studies that so convincingly demonstrate how Russia's foreign policy has been consistendy determined in large part by Moscow's relationship and attitudes towards the 'West'. The basic framework is linked to the traditional realist and liberal theoretical approaches in International REVIEWS 167 Relations, inwhich theweaknesses of both are exposed. Three basic foreign policy schools ofRussian foreign policy are identified: Westernist, Statist and Civilizationist, each in itsown way having developed in essential ways on the basis of its conception of and attitude towards theWest. It is here, with the question of identity, where theproblems arise in attempting to employ the traditional theories. The key strength of the book is in explaining both the change and continuity in foreign policy during the course ofRussia's transi tion fromCommunism over the past three decades within the framework of the three foreign policy schools. The first chapter sets out the framework of analysis and shows how tradi tional foreign policy debates outlasted the fall of the Soviet Union. This chap teralso offersa methodology for evaluating the efficiencyof a specific foreign policy orientation. The criteria used are linked to outcomes in four realms: security,welfare, autonomy and identity.Each of the next four chapters using this framework assesses Russian foreign policy in four periods. Chapter two covers theGorbachev era and the onset of'Soviet New Thinking'. It isargued thatGorbachev's attempt to foster a new socialist identity forRussia as part ofWestern civilization failed because it ignored important domestic and international power considerations. The next chapter evaluates the post-Cold War Liberal Westernism of the early El'tsin years under the...