The Islamic Vector in Russia’s Foreign Policy

Abstract

The Islamic vector is a part of Russian foreign policy. Its importance should not be exaggerated, yet it can hardly be ignored. It is underpinned by Russia’s striving to establish close relations with the Muslim world, to emphasize the closeness of their interests, as well as to contain Western domination in global politics by means of cultivating and promoting the common contribution of Russia and Muslim countries to a new world order based on the principle of multipolarity. The Russian official ideology emphasizes the similarity of traditions and civilizational identities between Russia and the Islamic Ummah. In 2015, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Russia is a Muslim country. Even if this may be interpreted as a mere declaration, it was highly appreciated in the Muslim world. The idea of the closeness of Russia and the Islamic Ummah is supported by the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has pointed out that Russian Orthodoxy is much closer to the Islamic tradition than to Western Christianity. Nonetheless, it is impossible to establish close relations with the Muslim world since different, sometimes very different, interests of dozens of Muslim countries need to be taken into account. Consequently, the Islamic vector as an instrument of Russia’s foreign policy plays an important role and is firmly connected with its pragmatic – political and economic – goals. The Ukrainian crisis and deteriorated relations with the West have stimulated Russia to deepen its relations with Muslim countries. There are, however, several obstacles on this path. First, Russia cannot provide the much-needed economic and financial assistance to Muslim countries on a regular basis and in the required amounts, and cannot compete in this area with Western economies and their long-term relations with Muslim countries. Second, the West, mainly the US, exert strong pressure on the Muslim states in an attempt to draw them into anti-Russian sanctions. Western successes and Western failures negatively affect the nature of relations between Russia and the Muslim world.