The Multilateral Dimension in Russian Foreign Policy

This book examines the place of multilateralism in Russia’s foreign policy and Russia’s engagement with multilateral institutions. Throughout the post-Soviet period, both Yeltsin and Putin consistently professed a deep attachment to the principles of multilateralism. However, multilateralism as a value, concept, strategy or general phenomenon in Russian foreign policy has hitherto been neglected by scholars, seldom assessed in its own right or from a comparative perspective. This book fills that gap, combining wider conceptual perspectives on the place of multilateralism in Russian foreign policy thought and action with detailed empirical case studies of Russian engagement at the global, transatlantic and European levels, and also in Russia’s regional environment. It examines Russia’s role and relationship with the UN, NATO, G8, EU, OSCE, Arctic Council, Eurasian Economic Community, Commonwealth of Independent States, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Collective Security Treaty Organization, covering a wide range of issue areas including nuclear non-proliferation and trade. Throughout, it considers the political, economic and security interests that shape Russia’ foreign relations, conception of multilateralism and activity in multilateral settings. Overall, this book is an important resource for anyone interested in Russian foreign policy and its role in international relations more generally.

Elana Wilson Rowe holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Her research interests include regional cooperation in the circumpolar north and Russian foreign and energy policy.

Stina Torjesen holds a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department for Russian and Eurasian studies, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). She has specialised on the international relations of Central Asia and works also on security and peacebuilding in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.