Vladimir Putin and the Evolution of Russian Foreign Policy

Acknowledgments vii

About the author ix

1 The Putin phenomenon 1

2 The inheritance 9

Identity and self-perception 11

The political context 18

The institutional context 21

The foreign policy panorama 23

Conclusion 29

3 The policy-making environment 31

A cast of thousands? 32

The primacy of the individual and the making (and breaking) of policy 42

All together now? 46

Conclusion 49

4 The economic agenda 51

The ‘unaturalness’ of economics 51

Foreign policy and economic reform 53

The integration agenda and globalization 57

The profit motive 61

Geoeconomics and geopolitics 65

Economization and a ‘balanced’ foreign policy 69

5 Security and geopolitics 72

The geopolitical mindset 72

Change and continuity in Russian strategic thinking 74

The evolution of threat perceptions 83

The future of security and geopolitics – from anachronism to rebirth? 94

6 Identity, values and civilization 97

The burden of the past 98

Integration with the West 101

Identification with the West and the evolution of the

Russian world-view 109

Conclusion 113

7 11 September and after 115

Policy-making – image and reality 117

The economic agenda – Westernization with qualifications 121

A new conception of security? 123

The repackaging of identity 127

Strategic opportunism 129

Towards a sustainable foreign policy 130

Notes 133

Index 161