Russia and its Foreign Policy - Research Paper Example

Russia and its Foreign Policy Being the largest country in the world, Russia has a status still maintained after the dispersal of fourteen countries when Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991. The economic and political pandemonium of the early stages of Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime gave way to complete control over the society and business and further marginalized the remaining opposition. However, the stability in the economic growth and society followed by the power over the rebels in Chechnya made him well-liked. He did have to step down of presidency after his second term conforming to the Russian constitution in 2008. He chose Dmitri A Medvedev to take charge of his duties as president the same year while Putin took the seat of prime minister continuing to play an influential role in Russian politics. To Russia’s disappointment, last year, in 2011 he was nominated by his party for the Russian presidency. At the loss of Putin’s United Russia Party during parliamentary elections, the results were widely rejected as deceptive. Putin accused United States and Hillary Clinton for causing such protests. Hence, the foreign policy aims to renovate yet remain pro-Western in its point of reference. Russian foreign policy is faced with multitude of challenges, however, due to non-conformist approach of the USA and the European Union toward the Russian Federation (Wright 2003) Russia’s foreign policy has molded ever since the fall of communism and end of Cold War. In order to safeguard the people of Russia, the foreign policy aims at forming a democratic world order for the purpose of deriving solutions for international problems collectively and understands the worth of the international law in order to acquire full legitimacy. It also needs to promote neighborly relations with the bordering States in order to minimize the conflicts in adjacent regions of the Russian Federation and avoid any future tension. In must make a conscious effort to look out for common interests among other States and international organizations for the benefit of Russia’s national priorities. Consequently a system of multilateral partnership is to be established for times when the country undergoes a capricious international foreign policy. The foreign policy must also aim at proving all-inclusive security of rights and legal interests of Russian citizens as well as those living abroad. The policy has to promote a positive image of the Russian Federation in and out of the country for the sake of upholding the stature of the market economy. Russian language and culture play a key role in the promotion of inter-empirical partnership in the contemporary world (DCAF 1993). There are several perspectives on foreign policy of Russia ranging from different medium of communications such as newspaper, journals and Russian policymakers’ speeches. Some analysts and policymakers consider international terrorism to be connected with terror groups within Russia, however, another set of analysts think otherwise and find no such connection to be posing a threat to Russia. Some feel threatened by China due to a tense relationship during World War. Russia seeks to develop a strong relationship with United States and Europe in order to cooperate in issues of terrorism and other concerns pertaining to the foreign affairs. The country simultaneously fears interference from Western countries and its overreliance on armed forces as a tool of policy (Oliker 2009). Whether the autocratic tendencies of Putin go in his favor or against him, the world knows Russia to have a firm leadership and despite an attempt of assassination on Putin, this strongman has managed to keep Russia free as never before. Unfortunately, Russia does not receive the kind of attention from the USA and UK as it has been hoping for. In 1997, Russia showed interest in Iranian energy project creating a conflict between itself and the USA. US threatened to sanction the companies participating in this project (Donaldson & Nogees 2009). Russian foreign policy needs to be more inclined towards the basic national interest rather than the needs of the parties or maintaining an ideological stance (Melʹvilʹ & Shakleina 2005). This is a lesson that Russia may have learnt when it was literally dragged into World War I and it fought unprepared for more than two years (Kort 1995). In 1917, Russia was standing at the brink of collapse and start of new era. The law of survival of the fittest was at its cruelest juncture struggling for food and shelter. Many died in search of food and in the process of migration from one country district to another. In this regard, Russia went nearest to experiencing the post-colonial developing countries of the south. By 1921, Russia remained in a severe condition, far from the utopian Marxism, and completely in ruins. By 1929, Stalin came in power and induced a sense of eerie terror and industrialization. Soviet Union was in the midst of a harsh recovery when in 1945, Nazi Germany invaded the country. Stalin was adamant to industrialize Russia and compete with the West within a short period of time. He made agriculture as his starting point but lost hope in it because most of the peasant farms were not inefficient but also non-government property. Stalin came up with the method of collectivization whereby peasants were snatched away from their farms and eventually the government won at the cost of thousands of lives. Russia eventually managed to export crops to buy new machinery and famine reached to such severe levels that there was nobody to bury the dead bodies all over the place (Kort 1995). Today the federation has “86 constituent parts including 46 regions, 21 republics, 9 territories, 4 districts, one autonomous region and the federal cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg”. The president appoints the government ministers which includes the prime minister while the Duma approves of the appointments made by the president. Russia has several nationalities. It is full of variant cultures and is well known for extreme hospitality which can be measured beyond any other Western countries. Russia is also known for its bipolar sense of humor which ranges from gloom to satire towards its own people. Being geographically the largest country in the world, Russia has a diversified lifestyle. Russian literacy rate varied from status to status and hence being an agrarian society, education was only available to the upper class (Richmond 2009). Russia sustains its national interests through the conceptual core of its foreign policies which are based on the following priorities: 1 The “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”, stability of the Russian border are some the areas controlled by Russia through political means. 2 The rights and wellbeing of the Russian citizens are protected. 3 In order to endorse democratic reforms it promotes civil society. 4 Build an efficient market economy by mobilization of financial and technological support and give way to the Russian manufacturers. 5 Maintaining the relations and partnership with countries have been helping Russia cope up with present problems. Building mutual and beneficial bondage between Russia, “the CIS states and other countries of the near abroad”. 6 Constant check over the regulation of the “global economy and international affairs” in order to secure Russia as a great power. These foreign policies’ priorities strictly abide by the international law and UN Charter as Russia condemns double standards (Melʹvilʹ & Shakleina 2005). Russia maintains a balanced and pragmatic policy with different regions of the world being in a unique geopolitical situation. However it fails to let USA intervene in improving the ties between other countries and Russia, because it disagrees to specific U.S. policies. USA’s effort to spread democracy in Russia is intolerable for Russians government as it will rather allow countries like China, Iran or even European countries to eliminate the US influence. It would rather use energy as a tool of foreign policy knowing of the limited utility it has. Leaders of Russia still criticize US policies on international forums and always make conscious attempts to differ its policies towards other nations from that of US policies with those nations. Russia will remain opaque in its decision making to frustrate the US policy makers. To this day and for a long time to come, US will have to step forward to improve the bilateral relations with Russia while Russia will continue to be rebellious (Oliker 2009). Russia’s relations with the non-West, that is, countries of Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, are based on economic objective. Moscow subsidized trade transaction between the Soviet and the Third World before the Cold War ended. The post-Soviet period saw a decline in trade with the non-West. Russia decided to reduce the cost of trading in order allow these countries to negotiate. It is basically observed that Russia would willingly support and deal with countries which do not have ties with the USA. Putin was pleased with Turkey’s independence at the refusal to the US forces transit rights during the Iraq invasion. Hence, the relations with Turkey were pretty cordial (Donaldson & Nogees 2009). One might conclude by way of understanding the conflicting and tensed air between Russia and especially the Third World states. Ever since the Soviet Union broke, Russia’s ties with the non-West also loosened. Socialism of Soviet ideology evaporated and Russia ceased to continue financial assistance to the client organizations. Relations with Africa were already volatile since 1991 when Yeltsin commanded withdrawal of foreign aid and repayment of remaining debt. After the breakdown, Africans demanded reduction in debt for obvious reasons since they were over burdened by the high rates. Economic ties ultimately shifted to South Africa and Nigeria since they were more developed (Melʹvilʹ & Shakleina 2005). Russia has had a very protective history regarding its foreign policies. It remains aloof in terms of politics and there is a sharp contrast between the culture and politics of the nation. The salvation of the country lies in an improved and upgraded economy well integrated into the world economy. The military expenditure burden should be reduced as per the desire of foreign policy. Russia needs to maintain strong ties with European countries in order to overcome the crisis in the economy. One core task of the foreign policy is to enhance the relations of the country with the most developed of the Third World countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. It should ensure the completion of construction and the effective exploitation, “modernization and the expansion of the establishments launched by former USSR as part of technological cooperation” (Melʹvilʹ & Shakleina 2005). The economic foreign policy should be an integral part of the Russian policy at the international level. The general foreign policy must coordinate and assimilate the economic foreign policy in order to maintain the status quo of the nation. Russia faced the toughest time during the period of world wars and the Stalin regime. It had to suffer at the hands of cruel leaders who wanted to lift the status of the country at the highest mark alongside USA and the UK. It wanted to maintain the same protocol about it just as the USA had naturally developed over a period of decades. There was a stark difference between the two situations. While the USA did mutilate the protection of rights on the reality grounds, it maintained a balanced relation with the rest of the world as part of the diplomatic move. Russia hindered in this regard because it sought for shortcuts not available in its own country where it had to fight with the peasants to gain control over their land even if its own people suffered death at the cost of industrialization. This incident went too far from reality for people to accept Russia as a trustworthy nation especially after the fall of communism and the breakdown of the Soviet Union. The non-Western countries views trade with Russia as an unpredictable move since it requires several meetings to develop the bond and understanding with the other countries. Russian Federation’s foreign policies are now firm about the well-being of its own citizens and Russians living abroad. Hence, it has recently started to make slower moves towards improving relations with other countries. Works Cited Donaldson, Robert H, and Joseph L. Nogee. The Foreign Policy of Russia: Changing Systems, Enduring Interests. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2009. Print. Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. Washington, D.C.: Foreign Broadcast Information Service, 1993.Web. 2 Mar. 2012. Kort, Michael. Russia. New York: Facts On File, 1995. Print. Melʹvilʹ, A I. U, and Tatʹi︠a︡na Shakleina. Russian Foreign Policy in Transition: Concepts and Realities. Budapest: CEU Press, 2005. Print. Oliker, Olga. Russian Foreign Policy: Sources and Implications. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Project Air Force, 2009. Print. Richmond, Simon. Russia. Footscray, Vic: Lonely Planet, 2009. Print Wright, John W. The New York Times Almanac 2004. The New York Times. 2003. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. Read More