REGIONAL SECURITY DYNAMICS: RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Authors

  • Shushan Kyureghyan Center for Civilization and Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University

Keywords:

Russian Federation, regional security, multipolar world, RussiaWest antagonism, “Near Abroad”, international organizations

Abstract

After the collapse of the USSR1and the end of the Cold War,Russia’s perceptions of the term “region” and regional security havechanged. The Russian Federation (RF) continued to consider the formerSoviet Union countries as a territory of its’ vital interests. It was quitereasonable to define the countries of the world as “near” and “far” abroad.The term “Near Abroad” does not have as much geographical, but rather ithas historical-cultural and political justification, as it summarizes thecountries under the former USSR (Baltic States, Transcaucasia, EasternEurope and Central Asia,) even those with no borders with Russia:Armenia, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan,while some states that border directly with Russia (Finland, Poland,Mongolia, People’s Republic of China and Democratic People's Republicof Korea) were not considered “close.”2 The rest of the world wasconsidered as “far” abroad, and cooperation with those countries wasimportant in terms of international security.

Author Biography

Shushan Kyureghyan, Center for Civilization and Cultural Studies, Yerevan State University

Ms. Shushan Kyureghyan is currently a Junior Research Fellow at the Center for Civilization and Cultural Studies at the Yerevan State University, focusing on Russia’s foreign policy towards Middle Eastern countries and the Armenian-Arab relations. In 2014-2015, she studied at the Kuwait University Language Center and worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Kuwait providing translation services of up-to-date news coverage of Kuwaiti newspapers. Ms. Kyureghyan graduated from Yerevan State University in 2014, and she has a Master of Arts degree in Oriental Studies in the Arabic Studies field.

References

The parade of sovereignty started in RF in parallel with the collapse of the USSR and external threats. It was followed by North Ossetia, the Autonomous Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, Udmurtia, Yakutia, Buryatia, Bashkiria, and that worryingly Tatarstan and Chechnya, thus bothering Russia’s internal stability. К союзу суверенных народов. Институт теории и истории социализма ЦК КПСС, Москва, 1991, pp. 250-301, available at: http://soveticus5.narod.ru/85/sborn91.htm#p287 (10.03.2017)

Jacub Kulkhanek, Russia and Near Abroad, Past and Present, 2006, available at: https://www.amo.cz/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/amocz-RP-2006-121.pdf (03.04.2017)

The long-term national strategic interests of RF are: strengthening the country’s defense, ensuring the inviolability of the Russian Federation’s constitutional order, sovereignty, independence, and national and territorial integrity; increasing the competitiveness of the national economy; consolidating the Russian Federation’s status as a leading world power, whose actions are aimed at maintaining strategic stability and mutually beneficial partnerships in a polycentric world. The Russian Federation’s national Security Strategy 2015, 30, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/ files/ru/l8iXkR8XLAtxeilX7JK3XXy6Y0AsHD5v.pdf (16.03.2017)

The national interests are ensured through the implementation of the following strategic national priorities: national defense, state and public security, economic growth, strategic stability and equal strategic partnership. Ibid, 31

Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on November 30, 2016), 3, Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2542248 (04.04.2017)

National Security Concept of the Russian Federation, 1997, State system of legal information, available at: http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody= &firstDoc=1&lastDoc=1&nd=102063972 (15.04.2017)

Vladimir Putin’s Speech and the Following Discussion at the Munich Conference on Security Policy 2007, Official Website of the President of Russia, available at http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24034 (16.03.2017)

According to American world-systems analyst Wallerstain's formulation triple-zoning system operates for the all regions of the planet: Core zone – “Rich North”, “Center”; “Poor South”, “Periphery”; “Semi-periphery” (China, India, Brazil, Russia), See more Wallerstein I. Geopolitics and geoculture: essays on the changing world-system. Cambridge: Press Syndicate, 1991.

Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on November 30, 2016), 70, Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2542248 (04.04.2017)

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy to 2020, 8, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://kremlin.ru/supplement/424 (23.04.2017)

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy 2015, 15, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/ files/ru/l8iXkR8XLAtxeilX7JK3XXy6Y0AsHD5v.pdf (16.03.2017)

NATO refuses the existence of such agreement. http://www.bbc.com/russian/international /2014/04/140418_nato_putin_reaction.shtml (06.05.2017)

NATO and South Caucasian States have developed practical cooperation in many areas, including peacekeeping operations. Available at official website of NATO, available at: http://www.natoinfo.am/en/armenia-nato-relations/, http://www.nato.int/cps/es/natohq/topics_38988.htm# (06.05.2017)

The stenography of S. Ivanov’s speech at Munich Conference on Security Policy 2008, available at: http://svpressa.ru/society/article/4036/ (13.04.2017)

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy 2015, 107, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/ files/ru/l8iXkR8XLAtxeilX7JK3XXy6Y0AsHD5v.pdf (16.03.2017)

Ibid, 14.

“As a result of the Russian military aggression, the Georgian Army suffered material losses worth $250 million,” Georgian Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili stated. As to the men in uniform, 270 perished in the five days and more than 1,000 were wounded. In addition to South Ossetia and Abkhazia occupation, Russian military forces entered Gori, Zugdidi, Poti, Vazian military airport. Available at: https://jamestown.org/program/lessonsand-losses-of-georgias-five-day-war-with-russia/ (12.07.2017)

Four Day War or April War is a collective name of the clashes along the NagornoKarabakh line of contact, which began on 2 April 2016.

Russia defends selling arms to both Azerbaijan and Armenia, available at: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-04-09/russia-defends-selling-arms-toboth-azerbaijan-and-armenia (24.05.2017)

Armenian MFA Eduard Nalbandyan in the conversation with “Russia Today” News Agency stated “Of course, we can not like the fact that Azerbaijan is buying weapons from our ally, which, in cooperation with Armenia, as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, is making great efforts to maintain peace and stability in our region”. Available at the official website of MFA Armenia, http://www.mfa.am/hy/interviews/item/2017/02/20/min_ria/ (04.07.2017)

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy to 2020, 16, Official website of RF MFA, available at: http://www.mid.ru/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/589768 (09.05.2017)

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy 2015, 17, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://static.kremlin.ru/media/ events/files/ru/ l8iXkR8XLAtxeilX7JK3XXy6Y0AsHD5v.pdf (16.03.2017)

The memorandum, signed by then-Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, along with Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, and John Major, required that the signatories “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “refrain from the threat or use offorce against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.” https://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2014/eirv41n08-20140221/34-35_4108.pdf (19.06.2017)

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Natural_gas_consumption_ statistics (26.07.2017)

Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, available at: http://www.mid.ru/integracionnye-struktury-prostranstva-sng/-/asset_publisher/rl7Fzr 0mbE6x/content/id/608944 (25.04.2017)

Georgia finalizes withdrawal from CIS, available at: https://www.rferl.org/a/Georgia_Finalizes_Withdrawal_From_CIS/1802284.html (14.05.2017)

According to Yeltsin, the leaders of the republics tried to alleviate the consequences that could affect the people of the former USSR. “That’s why the visa-free regime was set between the newly independent republics, customs barriers were excluded, and so on. We tried to create a structure similar to today’s European Union model with less bureaucracy and concentration.” Available at: https://ria.ru/politics/20061206/56569859.html (20.04.2017)

Available at the official website of CSTO: http://odkb-csto.org/documents /detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=126 (19.04.2017)

In 1993 Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia joined the Treaty. However, in September 1999 the protocol on the extension of the treaty was signed by six states, excluding Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

There are Russian military bases and facilities in Armenia (Air base in Yerevan, military basis in Gyumri), Azerbaijan (Radar station in Gabala), Belarus (Radar station in Baranovichi and communication center of the navy in Vileyka), Georgia (Military bases in South Ossetia and Abkhazia), Kazakhstan (Radar station in Balkash), Kyrgyzstan (Air basis in Kant), Tajikistan (Military bases (Dushanbe, Kurgan-Tube, Tulab) and joint use of the air force at Ayni) etc. Particularly, the absence of a military base in Armenia could make the Caucasus a line of contact between the Russian and enemy states, which is not profitable for Russia. Margarete Clein, Russia’s Military Capabilities: “Great Power”, Ambitions and Reality, German Institute for International and Security Affairs: available at: https://www.swpberlin.org/en/publication/russias-military-capabilities/ (08.05.2017)

Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/diverse/- /asset_publisher/ghZALys7bKD3/content/id/544128 (28.03.2017)

Union State is the Commonwealth of Belarus and Russia founded on 2 April 1996.

In 2014, the Eurasian Economic Union was formed aiming at providing economic security and encouraging economic integration processes in the territory of CIS countries. A treaty was signed by Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Available at official website of EEU: http://www.eaeunion.org/?lang=am (09.04.2017)

Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on November 30, 2016), 51, Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/- /asset_publisher/CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2542248 (04.04.2017)

Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Munich Conference on Security Policy 2007. The stenography available at the official website of the President of Russia: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24034 (16.03.2017)

During his speech at Valdai Discussion Club 2015, RF President V. Putin stated: “The emergence of nuclear weapon made it clear that there can not be a winner in the global conflict. The result can be one: Mutually assured Destruction”. Putin’s speech at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, available at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aGtYEwm-22Q (14.06.2017)

Sergey Ivanov’s speech at the Munich Conference on Security Strategy, the stenography available at: http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=162342&cid=9 (10.05.2017)

Official website of MFA RF, available at http://www.mid.ru/en/press_ service/minister_speeches/-/archive/year/2011 (18.03.2017) 39https://ria.ru/defense_safety/20170215/14880227

html (17.03.2017)

Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy 2015, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/files/ru/l8iXkR8XLAtxeilX7J K3XXy6Y0AsHD5v.pdf (16.03.2017)

Vladimir Putin’s speech at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGtYEwm-22Q (14.06.2017)

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy to 2020, Official website of RF MFA, available at: http://www.mid.ru/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher /CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/589768 (09.05.2017)

Putin’s Speech and the Following Discussion at the Munich Conference on Security Policy 2007, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24034 (16.03.2017)

During his speech at Munich Security Conference 2008 Russia’s Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov approved: “In cases where the use of military force is necessary, it must be carried out within the framework of international law under the leadership of the United Nations and other international organizations.”Available at: http://www.ng.ru/ideas/2008-02- 19/11_ivanov.html (07.05.2017)

Putin’s Speech and the Following Discussion at the Munich Conference on Security Policy 2007, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24034 (16.03.2017)

http://hvylya.net/news/digest/rossiya-nedovolna-otchetami-obse-o-sobyitiyah-nadonbasse.html (08.05.2017)

According to Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy 2009, of particular significance for Russia will be the reinforcement of the political potential of the SCO, and the stimulation within its framework of practical steps towards the enhancement of mutual trust and partnership in the Central Asian region.

Russian national Security Doctrine 2009 also indicated the need to deepen relations with the G8 countries. In 2014 after the conflict in Ukraine and Crimea’s annexation, Russia was not invited to the G8 talks, so this structure is no longer mentioned in the 2015 national security doctrine.

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy to 2020, Official website of RF MFA, available at: http://www.mid.ru/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/589768 (09.05.2017)

Meeting of the Commission for Military Technology Cooperation with Foreign States, the official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/15865 (13.05.2017)

https://ria.ru/defense_safety/20131211/983472868.html (11.04.2017)

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Arms Transfers Database – Methodology, https://www.sipri.org/databases/armstransfers/background (02.05.2017)

Russia’s Role as an Arm Exporter, Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, available at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse /publications/research/2017-03-20-russia-arms-exporter-connolly-sendstad.pdf (02.05.2017)

After the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and the other countries and international organizations applied sanctions against individuals, businesses and officials from Russia and Ukraine. Official website of US Department of State, available at: https://www.state.gov/e/eb/tfs/spi/ukrainerussia/ (05.04.2017)

On 24 November 2015, a Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian SU-24 M attack aircraft near Syria-Turkey border. http://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page /country/more.htm?id=12066900@egNews (22.06.2017)

The Turk Stream pipeline will surface on the shore of the European part of Turkey near Kıyıköy with gas delivery point at Lüleburgaz for the Turkish customers, and a border crossing between Turkey and Greece in İpsala serving as delivery point for the European customers. http://www.gazpromexport.ru/en/projects/ (23.06.2017)

The North Stream and the North Stream 2 are the optimal pipeline routes to transport Russian gas o Europe, directly linking Russia and Germany. http://www.gazpromexport.ru/en/projects/5/ (23.06.2017)

Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on November 30, 2016), 94, Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2542248 (04.04.2017)

https://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/press_room/OPEC %20agreement.pdf (22.06.2017)

http://theiranproject.com/blog/2015/06/18/iran-targets-berth-as-second-gas-producer/ (18.06.2017)

After the collapse of the USSR Azerbaijan, has also refused from the Alphabet based on the Cyrillic. From the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, the Cyrillic alphabet left Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kazakhstan, which is a Turkish-speaking country and member in Eurasian Economic Union, is also preparing for the transition of Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet. https://intmassmedia.com/2017/04/12/kazakhstan-refusesfrom-cyrillic-to-latin/ (05.07.2017)

Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on November 30, 2016), 59, Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2542248 (04.04.2017)

Iran has certain claims towards Farsi-Speaking Talishs, and also towards Nakhijevan region, which is connected to Azerbaijan through Iran.

Caucasian territories were under Iran’s supremacy till Russia completed conquering of all that lands during Russian-Persian wars (1804-1813, 1826-1828).

The Russian Federation’s National Security Strategy 2015, 89, Official website of the President of Russia, available at: http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/files/ru/l 8iXkR8XLAtxeilX7JK3XXy6Y0AsHD5v.pdf (16.03.2017)

Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (approved by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on November 30, 2016), 58, Official website of MFA RF, available at: http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2542248 (04.04.2017)

The inevitability of multipolarity has been introduced by the formulation of Putin’s speech at Munich Security Conference, according to which “the combined GDP measured in purchasing power parity of countries such as India and China is already greater than that of the United States. And a similar calculation with the GDP of the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – surpasses the cumulative GDP of the EU. And according to experts this gap will only increase in the future.” Official website of the President of Russia, the stenography available at http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24034 (16.03.2017)

After the collapse of the USSR, the successor of the USSR, Russian Federation gradually removed its troops from Baltic countries, German, Poland, Mongolia. In order to temporarily keep military-bases treaties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other countries were signed. Now there are Russian military-bases in the territory of former USSR countries: Armenia, Belarus, South Ossetia, Kazakhstan,Tajikstan, as well as Vietnam and Syria.

Activity Plan of RF’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 2018, Official website of RF MFA, 1, available at: http://www.mid.ru/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/ CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/102086 (25.03.2017)

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) is a global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.

Downloads

Published

2017-09-29

How to Cite

Kyureghyan, S. . (2017). REGIONAL SECURITY DYNAMICS: RUSSIAN FEDERATION. Analytical Bulletin, 2(11), 112–136. Retrieved from https://analytical-bulletin.cccs.am/index.php/ab/article/view/78