Russian Foreign policy making The Traditionalists hard traditionalist

Russian Foreign policy making

The Traditionalists • “hard traditionalist school”: after the collapse of the USSR, the range of the Soviet conservatists opposed the Gorbachev’s reforms; • Wanted the re-birth of the quasi-Soviet Union; • Use geopolitical theories: antagonism of the West and Russia (Eurasians); intention to destroy Russian identity; especially NATO and the USA; • Russia has to maintain massive nuclear weaponry to resist all threats;

The Traditionalists • Russia’s allies are North Korea, Cuba, Iran, China, Muslim world - partners; • Russia has to maintain strong army; • Who are those group? : hard statists, bureaucracy afraid of liberal reforms, military elites.

The Pragmatists • Born in 1990 s: “realistic and pragmatic”; • Take seriously globalization; • Russia has 2 options: associate with the community of democracies, or will be removed to the global periphery; • Main aims: strong high- tech, social innovations, human capital; • Main origin of security threats: domestic threats, instability in provinces of Russia, growing terrorism, etc.

The Pragmatists • No possibility of a “war” against NATO or West; • Russia needs a small well-trained to fight effectively local wars; • China’s future: threat for Russia's Far Eastern provinces?

Multi-polar Concept • • New elites thoughts of Russia’s greatness; Not able to adopt the new Western views; E. Primakov; New independent states are Russia’s zones of influence and responsibility. • “New Imperialists”

Neo- Eurasians • Eurasian concept founders: Trubetskoy and Savitsky; • 1960 -70 s: L. N. Gumilev: the idea of “passionarity”: synthesis of history, geography (landscape), biosphere and ethnicity; • Followers continued the ideas towards symbolic concepts of “Steppe and Forest”;

Neo- Eurasians • Neo-Eurasian concept has several directions: 1. Opposes the liberal Western views, and Russia is considered as a large space with the mission of the creation of the empire; 2. Russia is considered as a large space with the mission to create the empire of “Eurasian socialism” (A. Dugin)

Neo- Eurasians 3. Idea of the continental union of Russia and Iran (anti- Atlantism) with Islam and Orthodox Christianity, Turks and Russians are the basis for the union; this theory does not agree with Atlantic, mondialistic, or Europeanist approaches; many 7 common points with Islamic socialism, European national-Socialism.

Neo- Eurasians 4. Economic Eurasians (N. Nazarbayev) 0 revival of the economic cooperation of the post-Soviet space; + Russia as a guarantee for the neighbors (G. Zyuganov) + Russia as a Great Power towards the south of the continent (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India) to protect them from “anaconda” plan (V. Zhirinovsky)

Neo- Eurasians • Common conclusions: 1. Eurasia is an alternative to the West source of the civilizations processes (whereas the West values forced in the east create planetary conflicts); 2. Synthesis of the Forest and Steppe created and authentic culture. (A. Dugin: “Miseries of Eurasia” (1996));