Russia's Foreign Policy: Change and Continuity in National Identity

Now fully updated and revised, this clear and comprehensive text explores the past thirty years of Soviet/Russian international relations, comparing foreign policy formation under Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Putin, and Medvedev. Challenging conventional views of Moscow's foreign policy, Andrei P. Tsygankov shows that definitions of national interest depend on visions of national identity and is rooted both in history and domestic politics. Yet the author also highlights the role of the external environment in affecting the balance of power among competing domestic groups. Drawing on both Russian and Western sources, Tsygankov shows how Moscow's policies have shifted under different leaders' visions of Russia's national interests. He gives an overview of the ideas and pressures that motivated Russian foreign policy in five different periods: the Gorbachev era of the late 1980s, the liberal "Westernizers" era under Kozyrev in the early 1990s, the relatively hardline statist policy under Primakov, the more pragmatic statist course under Putin, and the assertive policy of the late Putin and early Medvedev era. Evaluating the successes and failures of Russia's foreign policies, Tsygankov explains its many turns as Russia's identity and interaction with the West have evolved. The book concludes with reflections on the emergence of the post-Western world and the challenges it presents to Russia's enduring quest for great-power status along with its desire for a special relationship with Western nations.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Understanding Change and Continuity in Russia's Foreign Policy Chapter 2: The Cold War Crisis and the Soviet New Thinking Chapter 3: The Post-Cold War Euphoria and Russia's Liberal Westernism Chapter 4: The New Security Challenges and Great Power Balancing Chapter 5: The World after September 11 and Great Power Pragmatism Chapter 6: The U.S. Regime Change Strategy and a New Face of Great Power Pragmatism Chapter 7: The Post-Western World and Russia's Search for a New Direction Chapter 8: Conclusions and Lessons Essential Reading

About the Author :
Andrei P. Tsygankov is professor of international relations/political science at San Francisco State University.

Review :
Tsygankov (San Francisco State Univ.) provides an accessible, invaluable contribution to the teaching and analysis of Russia's post-Cold War foreign policy. This relatively short book aims to provide both a historic overview and a theoretic framework for analyzing the formation and conceptualization of Russia's national interest, with particular emphasis on Russia's historic and evolving relationship with the West. The book contains a chronology of Russian foreign policy from 1985 to the present, and relies on many original Russian-language sources. The work is divided into eight chapters, with a historic overview, a basic introduction to international relations theory and its implications for understanding Russian foreign policy, as well as chapters on Gorbachev's new thinking, Russia as great-power balancer, Russia as great-power pragmatist, and Russia as an assertive great power. It concludes by analyzing prospects for change and continuity in Russian foreign policy. Recommended. CHOICE