The International Politics of Russia and the Successor States

Abstract

Introduction - the study of the international politics of Russia and the successor states - definitions, theoretical approaches to the study of international politics, theories of international politics and the collapse of the USSR, the former Soviet Union - its inward and outward orientations. Part 1 Soviet foreign and defense policies during the Gorbachev period: the Brezhnev legacy the new political thinking new thinking in practice - Soviet foreign policy during the Gorbachev period conclusion - the end of the Cold War and the heritage of the Gorbachev period. Part 2 The transition - the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the initiation of the post-Soviet order: economic reform and external economic relations changes in the military the nationalities issue the Communist Party the August coup August-December 1991 - things fall apart. Part 3 The former Soviet Union - its inward and outward orientations: the inward orientation - the Commonwealth of Independent States and Russia's relations with the near abroad the outward orienation - the successor states and the wider world conclusion - the foreign policies of new states. Part 4 Defence and security in the former Soviet Union: controversies over nuclear forces upheaval in conventional armed forces cases studies of disagreement alliances and security interests conclusion. Part 5 Diplomacy and conflict resolution - the Soviet legacy and the challenges of the post-Cold War world: disputes involving open warfare, either between or within the successor states disputed territorial claims involving one or more of the successor states plus an outside party violent conflicts in the Third World the wars in the former Yugoslavia conclusion - confict resolution in the post-Cold War world. Part 6 Post-Soviet external economic relations: the Soviet economy - crawling from the wreckage economic viability interdependence interdependence, integration and the formation of the CIS economic issues and the CIS the former Soviet Union and the international economy conclusion. Part 7 Conclusion - perspectives on the post-Cold War world and the former Soviet Union: prospects.