Russia’s strategic interest in post-Soviet countries

Year 2023, Volume: 5 Issue: 8, 289 - 298, 01.04.2023

Liza Amilakhvari , Emilia Alaverdov

Abstract

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the influence of the Russian Federation on part of the post-Soviet countries gradually weakened, but the Russian political elite still does not want to realize the fact that the republics of the former USSR are no longer subordinate to Moscow (Alaverdov, 2020). The sphere of its strategic interests, Russia extends especially to the South Caucasus to the South Caucasus - the Black Sea-Caspian region, which has become the major attractive area of global and regional superpower rivalry in the post-Cold War era. This was significantly facilitated by the region's geopolitical location and solid energy resources (Tibold & Cillessen, 2006). Soon after the Soviet Union collapsed six documents have been adopted by the highest authorities of Russia, in which the basic principles, priority directions, goals, and objectives of the country's foreign policy have been formulated. Despite the periodic softening of the rhetoric, all documents have one invariable characteristic: all of them are focused on the importance of Russia in a new world order formation, the weakening of the position of the West, and the emergence of new dominant political and economic players in the international arena. In this case, we have to highlight that as a new state, Russia immediately showed disrespect for the territorial integrity of states and their territorial integrity. Moreover, it has tried and is still doing its best to change the security of European and Euro-Atlantic architecture and restore the principle of "spheres of influence" in its small and big neighboring states. All these have a negative impact not only on the security of the Russian Federation and its neighboring states but on European as well.

Keywords

Conflicts, South Caucasus, Euro-Atlantic Integration, Russia, Security, Foreign Policy

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