Geopolitical Economy of Russia’s Foreign Policy Duality in the Eurasian Landmass

Abstract

At a time of critical geopolitical economic changes, Russia has been pursuing different foreign policy lines on the two sides of the Eurasian landmass. On the one hand, it has been intensifying its economic ties with Asia-Pacific. On the other hand, it pursues an assertive policy against the interests of the West (e.g. in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria). In this light, this chapter aims to explain this foreign (economic) policy duality of Russia. Adopting a neoclassical realist approach and using the concept of geopolitical economy, it argues that at a time of profound global changes, the Russian elites’ perceptions regarding their country’s role in the Eurasian landmass have created such a duality. It concludes that Russian elites’ sense of geopolitical exposure and economic policy preferences have not only prompted this discrepancy in Russia’s foreign (economic) policy but also undermined the country’s great power prospects in the twenty-first century.