New Russian Geopolitics: Reviving Past Perceptions and Ambitions
Résumé
Putin’s Russia has evolved towards greater assertion in world politics,
including the use of military means in Europe and the Middle East. The
chapter explains the key reorientations of Russian foreign policy in the 21st
century by delving into the geopolitical thinking that has been influential
in the Russian course. Four main geopolitical theories have been
dominating in the Kremlin’s views since the 2000s: Eurasianism,
Isolationism, Exceptionalism and the Westerners’ approach. Taking into
consideration these four main geopolitical streams and the fact that they
have all emerged in past historical contexts, our chapter aims at explaining
their reformulation today and how they interplay among themselves. At the
bottom line, we expose the renewed significance of the Eurasian vision and
scale for Russia and how it contributes to explain the “turn to the East”,
initialed in 2008, in detriment of relations with Europe. Common to the
four the geopolitical discourses is the question whether Russia is European or a different entity and a reflection about Russian isolation. The
incorporation of these views in the Kremlin’s choices point to further
estrangement from cooperation with Europe, and leave the way open for
different modes of engagement towards the East at large.