The end of the Cold War and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the considerable shift in global politics and economics, making reconsider a large number of issues in international relations and diplomacy. The break of rivalry between the USSR and the US that continued since 1947, as well as disappointment in the Communist ideology, caused Russia to search its new face in the world, making new allies and possessing new rivals. During the next two decades, the position of Russia has significantly changed, yet the country has remained an important global political and economic actor; the reasons for it will be explained below.
Since the end of the Cold War, the Russian position can be best characterized by mentioning the two key elements of it. The first point is implicit or explicit refusal to accept of the post-Cold War security order in the European Union, which has been openly demonstrated during the issue of Crimea annexation in 2014. This element is aligned with general suspicion towards the political, economic, and to a large extent, cultural position of the West, although such a view is not accepted by all the parties within the state. The second element is Russia’s claim to access the influence on the territory of its immediate periphery. The third element is Russia’s determination to access the global influence in the energy sector, having the world’s bigger resource of natural gas and tempting to maintain a monopoly in this area.
In regard to the first point, it is necessary to discuss that the Russian elite is divided into two sections, “siloviki” (mostly the officials of security service) and modernizers. The former party agrees with Putin’s determination to maintain a strong level of state control over politics and economics of the country, confronting the West by its means. The latter party advocates the Western approach in all these fields, thus, proposing the integration with the Western countries. As Putin’s rule has been lasting since the dissolution of the USSR, with the short intervention of Medvedev’s leadership, the general policy of Russia maintains within the frame of the first approach, experiencing the tension in the relations with the EU and the US.
Aiming to spread its power over the nearest territories, Russia pursues the stability of its influence in such countries as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as Moldova and Georgia. Moreover, it gained power in Asia, including North and South Korea, and China. Some of Russia’s interventions, such as in Chechnya, Georgia, or Ukraine, causes deterioration of relations with Europe and the US. Some researchers argue that the country’s present strategy is to restore the Soviet Union in one or another form, thus returning to a certain degree to the position previously held during the Cold War.
However, Russia’s strategic importance makes the EU consider it as a powerful actor in the global arena. Its main reason is the country’s large resources of natural gas, which Russia supplies to European countries. With the aim to monopolize the energy sector, Russia implies international policies that attempt to keep economic control in this sector; in many cases, the members of the EU are compelled to compromise. Thus, it demonstrates the importance of keeping diplomatic relations with Russia, at the same time preventing the violation of the EU security order.