Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors (Paperback)

List of Tables, Figures, and Map Principal Vectors in Russian Foreign Policy Preface Acknowledgments About the Editors Introduction The Challenges Facing Russia 1. The Historical Legacy for Contemporary Russian Foreign Policy The Soviet Legacy 2. Vectors and Sectors: The Russian Foreign Policy Mechanism The Constitutional Structure: President and Prime Minister Searching for a Role: The Legislature The Position of the Foreign Ministry: One Actor Among Many The Regional Governments The State Companies and Private Business The Nongovernmental Organizations Russian National Security Decision Making The Principal Vectors 3. The United States: The Main Enemy or Strategic Partner? Legacy of the Cold War Gorbachev: The Search for Condominium The Yeltsin Era and "Tainted Transactions" Putin-Bush and Obama-Medvedev: Soul Connections? Some Enduring Obstacles Institutionalizing the Relationship The Balance Sheet 4. The Bear and the Dragon: China and the East Asia Vector Triangular Relations: Opportunities and Challenges The Dragon Turns to the Bear The Bear Embraces the Dragon The Bear Arms the Dragon An Emerging Strategic Alliance? Mending Fences: Russia-Japan Relations Korea: Unparalleled Relations Vietnam: Moscow's Toehold in Southeast Asia Setting Its Eyes on Asia 5. The Eurasian Space The Disintegration of the Soviet Union The Eurasian Vision Breaking Up Is Hard To Do The Frozen Conflicts The Georgia-Russia War and Its Aftermath The Ties That Bind Securing Eurasia A Eurasian Convergence Zone? The Eurasian Union: USSR Lite? Euraskepticism Putin's Eurasian Dream 6. Eastern Europe: Comrades no More The Second World War and the Creation of the Soviet Bloc 1989-1999: The Attempt to Preserve Eastern Europe The Baltics and Beyond: NATO's Reach East Baltic [In]Security From Tragedy to Reconciliation? Developments in Russia-Poland Relations Russian Impotence in the Balkans Moscow's "Ruble Diplomacy" and Russia's Return to Eastern Europe 7. Europe: Russia's "Traditional Orientation" Russia and the European Union Since the Soviet Collapse The Russo-German Relationship The Russian Relationship with France The Overlooked Partnership: Italy and Russia The Bulldog and the Bear: Russia and Great Britain Other Relationships The Arctic Dimension Concluding Thoughts 8. The Near-Eastern Vector Russia-Turkey: The Unexpected Partnership Israel: "Practically a Russian-Speaking Country"? Russia-Saudi Arabia: The Start of a Rapprochement? Traditional Arab Partners Moscow's Traditional Ally Syria The Transformation of Russian-Iranian Relations Overall Conclusion 9. Call Across the Himalayas: The South Asia Vector The Immediate Post-Soviet Policy The Failed Rapprochement with Pakistan? The Model Partnership: India The Russia-India-China Troika Drivers of the Indo-Russian Entente 10. Africa and Latin America: The Southern Vector The Return to Africa Latin America Beckons Building the BRICS 11. Epilogue Index