Russia’s Foreign Policy Shifts

Abstract

Abstract. For more than two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian states have still been
remaining closely tied to Russia. Through the formation of economic and military alliances with the countries of the
region, Russia has been maintaining control over Central Asia. The Ukrainian crisis of 2014 has showed to what extent
Russia was ready to defend what she considered to be her traditional spheres of influence. This paper deals with the new
ideas in Russian foreign policy as «Russian world», «state-civilization», and the doctrine of «sovereign democracy».
Before the Ukrainian crisis, these concepts have been gradually introduced and developed in the Russian foreign policy
discourse. Russia has tried to construct «state-civilization» identity enforced by the Russian people, language and
culture. Hence, the ideas of «civilizing mission» of Russia on the Eurasian continent and unique character of Russian
civilization have been developed. However, the new concepts of Russian foreign policy have caused great concerns in
neighboring countries.