From chaos to pragmatism? The domestic dimension of Russian foreign policy 1991–2008

Abstract

"Whether the Russian-Ukrainian gas affair, stepped-up engagement in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or an active stance against NATO's eastward enlargement: Russian foreign policy under Putin underwent an evolution from a reactive, incohesive and at times contradictory OECD-centred approach towards a proactive, more coherent 'multivectoral' policy. This paper argues from a Political Economy perspective that shifts in Russian foreign policy from Yeltsin to Putin were mainly connected to developments in the sphere of domestic politics. With Russian politics strongly determined by small societal interest groups, the government's capacity to formulate and implement its own policy line was largely dependent on its financial situation and, thus, a function of the world oil price. Accordingly, the rise and fall of particular interest groups and their changing leverage over policy makers considerably shaped official foreign policy decision making." (author's abstract)