REVIEW ON SHOUSHAN KYUREGHYAN’S PAPER “REGIONAL SECURITY DYNAMICS: RUSSIAN FEDERATION”

Abstract

 International Conference "Regional and National Security Dynamics: Armenia-Turkey Relations", 29 September 2017  

Let me express my gratitude to the organizers to be here, to be inYerevan once again. That is really a pleasure for me. Now, let me pass tothe paper on the Russian Regional Security Dynamics. ShushanKyureghyan’s work focuses attention on Russia’s national security andforeign policy, that is to say, Russia’s main and long-term national securitypolitics in the “Near” and “Far” abroad. Well, in fact this definition of“Near Abroad” was some kind of 1990s and now it is politely cut out fromthe official documents. Anyway, the author is quite right in this term, thatthere are different policies towards Western countries, different risingpowers, existing powers and states under power transformation. The authoris interested in why this politics unfolds as it does and why it is reasonableto “define the countries of the world as “near” and “far” abroad” (p.1-2),and provides a process-oriented, theoretically/explanatory framework thatconsiders the sources of Russia’s concerns, including long-term threats,NATO’s eastern enlargement, militarization of the regions adjacent toRussia. The introduction is well written and outlines the theses of the paper.The author considers different phases of the Russian policyprocesses: the sources of long-term security problems, why some problemsemerge on the Russian security agenda and others not, RF’s success increating intergovernmental institutions to address regional securityproblems, and how the effectiveness of regional cooperation institutionsmight be evaluated.