Russia, NATO Enlargement, and “Regions of Privileged Interests”

In the aftermath of the Georgian war, and five days after Moscow’s unilateral recognition of the independence of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on August 31, 2008 Russian President Dmitri Medvedev set out Russia’s five foreign policy principles of the new world order. The last principle emphasized that, as for other great powers, “there are regions in which Russia has privileged interests” (President of Russia, 2008).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Buy Now

eBook EUR 42.79 Price includes VAT (France)

Softcover Book EUR 52.74 Price includes VAT (France)

Hardcover Book EUR 52.74 Price includes VAT (France)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Preview

Similar content being viewed by others

Russia and Asia-Pacific: Diversification or Sinocentrism?

Putin and Russian Policy Toward the West

The Issues of Changing Geopolitical Challenges—The Case of Poland

References

• Almond, Mark (2008) “Plucky little Georgia? No, the cold war reading won’t wash”, The Guardian, August 8. Google Scholar
• AP (2010) “Georgia Puzzled by France’s Proposed Mistral Sale”, The Moscow Times, March 4. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/georgia-puzzled-by-frances-proposed-mistral-sale/400872.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Arbatov, Aleksei (1993) “Empire or great power?”, New Times, no. 1, May 20, pp. 22–4. Google Scholar
• Aslund, Anders (2009) “The Leader of the CIS is Lonely and Weak”, The Moscow Times, October 28. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-leader-of-the-cis-is-lonely-and-weak/388309.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Asmus, Ronald (2010a) A Little War That Changed the World: Georgia, Russia and the Future of the West, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar
• Asmus, Ronald (2010b) “Finlandization of Georgia and Ukraine”, The Moscow Times, March 3. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/finlandization-of-georgia-and-ukraine/400808.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Berryman, John (2005) “Putin’s International Security Priorities”, in Roger E. Kanet (ed.), The New Security Environment: Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 31–52. Google Scholar
• Berryman, John (2009) “Russia, NATO Enlargement, and the New ‘Lands in Between’”, in Roger E. Kanet (ed.), A Resurgent Russia and the West: The European Union, NATO and Beyond, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Republic of Letters Publishing, pp. 163–88. Google Scholar
• Betts, Richard K. (2009) “The Three Faces of NATO”, The National Interest, no. 100, March/April, pp. 31–8. Google Scholar
• Biden, Joseph (2009) Remarks by Vice President Biden at the 45th Munich Security Conference, February 7, 2009. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/RemarksbyVicePresidentBidenat45thMunichConferenceonSecurityPolicy/ (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Blackwill, Robert D. (2008) “The Three Rs: Rivalry, Russia, and ‘Ran’”, The National Interest, no. 93, January/February, pp. 68–73. Google Scholar
• Blandy, Charles W. (2009) Provocation, Deception, Entrapment: The Russo-Georgian Five Day War, March, Caucasus Series 09/01. Shrivenham: Advanced Research and Assessment Branch, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/arag/document-listings/caucasus/09(02)CWB.pdf/view (accessed June 30, 2010). Google Scholar
• Blank, Stephen (2009) “From Neglect to Duress: The West and the Georgian Crisis before the 2008 War”, in Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr (eds), The Guns of August 2008: Russia’s War in Georgia, Armonk, New York and London: M. E. Sharpe, pp. 104–21. Google Scholar
• Bloomberg (2010) “Bases Go Up in Rebel Regions”, The Moscow Times, February 26. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/bases-go-up-in-rebel-regions/400459.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Bogaturov, Alexei (2005) “The Sources of American Conduct”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 1, January–March. http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/printver/821.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Bogaturov, Alexei (2009) “Khochesh otkrytoi sistemy — stroy zakrytyi blok? [You want an open system — to build a closed block?]”, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 15. http://www.ng.ru/courier/2009-06-15/9_block.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Brzezinski, Zbigniew (1997) The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives, New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar
• Brzezinski, Zbigniew and Paige Sullivan (eds) (1997) Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Documents, Data, and Analysis, Armonk, New York and London: M. E. Sharpe. Google Scholar
• Bugajski, Janusz (2003–4) “Russia’s New Europe”, The National Interest, Winter, pp. 84–91. Google Scholar
• Bugajski, Janusz (2004) Cold Peace: Russia’s New Imperialism, Washington, DC: Praeger for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Google Scholar
• Bugajski, Janusz (2007) The Eastern Dimension of America’s Allies, October. Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=813 (accessed June 30, 2010). Google Scholar
• Charlemagne (2009) “A new balance in Europe”, The Economist, November 21, p. 52. Google Scholar
• Cohen, Stephen F. (2006) “The New American Cold War”, The Nation, July 10. Google Scholar
• Cooley, Alexander and Lincoln A. Mitchell (2009) “No Way to Treat Our Friends: Re-casting Recent U.S.-Georgian Relations”, The Washington Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 1, January, pp. 27–41. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Cornell, Svante E. (2007) Georgia After the Rose Revolution: Geopolitical Predicament and Implications for U.S. Policy, February. Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=757 (accessed June 30, 2010). Google Scholar
• Cornell, Svante E. (2008) “War in Georgia, Jitters All Round”, Current History, vol. 107, no. 711, October, pp. 307–14. Google Scholar
• Davies, Lizzy (2010) “Sarkozy angers allies with ship sales to Russia”, The Guardian, March 2. Google Scholar
• DeBardeleben, Joan (2009) “The Impact of EU Enlargement on the EU-Russia Relationship”, in Roger E. Kanet (ed.), A Resurgent Russia and the West: The European Union, NATO and Beyond, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Republic of Letters Publishing, pp. 93–112. Google Scholar
• The Economist (2009) “The blame game”, October 3, pp. 48–9. Google Scholar
• The Economist (2010a) “The cruel sea”, February 13, p. 40. Google Scholar
• The Economist (2010b) “The next salvo”, 20 February, p. 40. Google Scholar
• Emerson, Michael (2010) “Russia in Europe and the West”, CEPS European Neighbourhood Watch, Issue no. 58, March 31. http://www.ceps.eu/panel6 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Felgengauer, Pavel (2009) “After August 7: The Escalation of the Russia-Georgia War”, in Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr (eds), The Guns of August 2008: Russia’s War in Georgia, Armonk, New York and London: M. E. Sharpe, pp. 162–80. Google Scholar
• Friedman, George (2008) “The Russo-Georgian War and the Balance of Power”, August 12. http://www.stratfor.com/print/121845 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Ganin, Konstantin (2010) “U Rossii reshili poigrat na manyovrakh: NATO nachinayet seriyu voyennykh uchenyi ryadom s eyo granitsami [They’ve Decided to have Manoeuvres on Russia’s Doorstep: NATO Begins a Series of Military Exercises Near Its Borders]”, Kommersant, March 4. http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1331423 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Giles, Keir and Susanna Eskola (2009) Waking the Neighbour- Finland, NATO and Russia, Special Series 09/14, November. Shrivenham: Advanced Research and Assessment Branch, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. http://www.finlandnato.org/public/download.aspx?ID=49566&GUID=%7B7CB8A086-C30A-4246-8355-411A3BDE2FE7%7D (accessed June 30, 2010). Google Scholar
• Gvosdev, Nikolas (2007) “Parting with Illusions: Developing a Realistic Approach to Relations with Russia”, Policy Analysis, no. 611, February 29. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9229 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Harding, Luke (2010) “Ukraine leader promises better ties with Russia”, The Guardian, March 6. Google Scholar
• Illarionov, Andrei (2009) “The Russian Leadership’s Preparation for War, 1999–2008”, in Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr (eds), The Guns of August 2008: Russia’s War in Georgia, Armonk, New York and London: M. E. Sharpe, pp. 49–84. Google Scholar
• Ivashov, Colonel-General Leonid G. (2007) “Russia’s Geopolitical Horizons”, International Affairs (Moscow), vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 74–81. Google Scholar
• Jackson, William D. (2002) “Encircled Again: Russia’s Military Assesses Threats in the Post-Soviet World”, Political Science Quarterly, vol. 117, no. 3, Autumn, pp. 373–400. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Karabeshkin, Leonid and Dina R. Spechler (2007) “EU and NATO Enlargement: Russia’s Expectations, Responses and Options for the Future”, European Security, vol. 16, nos. 3–4, September–December, pp. 307–28. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Karaganov, Sergei (2007) “A new epoch of confrontation”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 4, December. http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/printver/1148.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Karaganov, Sergei (2009a) “The Magic Numbers of 2009”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 2, April-June. http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/printver/1279.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Karaganov, Sergei (2009b) “Russia will save the west”, The Moscow Times, December 29. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/russia-will-save-the-west/396905.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Kissinger, Henry A. and George P. Shultz (2008) “Building on Common Ground With Russia”, The International Herald Tribune, October 1. Google Scholar
• Kober, Stanley (2008) “Cracks in the Foundations: NATO’s New Troubles”, Policy Analysis, no. 608, January 15, pp. 1–15. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8875 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Kobrinskaya, Irina (2005) “The CIS in Russian Foreign Policy: Causes and Effect”, in Hazel Smith (ed.), Russia and Its Foreign Policy: Influence, Interests and Issues, Saarijarvi: Kikimora Publications for the Aleksanteri Institute, pp. 75–92. Google Scholar
• Kotkin, Stephen (2008) “Myths of the new cold war”, Prospect, Issue 145, April. Google Scholar
• Kupchan, Charles (1999) “Turning Adversity into Advantage: Russia in NATO”, in Mathias Jopp and Hanna Ojanen (eds), European Security Integration: Implications for Non-Alignment and Alliance, Helsinki: Ulkopoliitinen instituuti & Institut fur Europaische Politik and WEU Institute for Security Studies, pp. 215–35. Google Scholar
• Kupchan, Charles (2002) The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, pp. 255–74. Google Scholar
• Kupchan, Charles and Clifford Kupchan (1991) “Concerts, Collective Security, and the Future of Europe”, International Security, vol. 16, no. 1, Summer, pp. 114–61. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Layne, Christopher (2006) The Peace of Illusions: American Grand Strategy from 1940 to the Present, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. Google Scholar
• Leontiev, Mikhail (2008) Bolshaya Igra [The Great Game], Moskva: Izdatelstvo. Google Scholar
• Lieven, Anatol (2007) “The Mutual Responsibility and Irresponsibility of the West and Russia’, International Affairs (Moscow), vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 21–33. Google Scholar
• Lucas, Edward (2008) The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Menaces both Russia and the West, London: Bloomsbury. Google Scholar
• Lukyanov, Fyodor (2009a) “Rethinking Security in ‘Greater Europe’ ”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 3, July–September. http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/numbers/28/1298.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Lukyanov, Fyodor (2009b) “Russia’s Georgia Problem One Year On”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 4, October–December. http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/engsmi/0/1307.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Lynch, Dov (2000) Russian Peacekeeping Strategies in the CIS: The Cases of Moldova, Georgia and Tajikistan, Basingstoke: Macmillan, in association with the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Google Scholar
• McDermott, Roger (2010) “New Russian Military Doctrine Opposes NATO Enlargement”, Eurasia Daily Monitor, vol. 7, issue 27, February 9. http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=36023&tx_ttnews%5BpackPid%50=7&cHash=4835e7096f (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Markedonov, Sergei (2007) “The Paradoxes of Russia’s Georgia Policy”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 2, April-June. http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/printver/1116.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Markedonov, Sergei (2008) “Regional Conflicts Reloaded?”, Russia in Global Affairs, no. 4, October–December. http://www.eng.globalaffairs.ru/printver/1247.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Markedonov, Sergei (2009) “Squabbles over the post-Soviet space”, Open Democracy, April 20. http://www.opendemocracy.net/print/47744 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Migranyan, Andranik (1994) “Unequal partnership”, The New York Times, June 23. Google Scholar
• Migranyan, Andranik (2004) “Saakashvili dobivayetssya nezavisimosti Abkhazii i Yuzhnoy Osetii [Saakashvili is trying to secure independence for Abkhazia and South Ossetia]”, Izvestiya, September 17. http://www.izvestia.ru/comment/article405381/ (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Mitchell, Lincoln A. (2009) “Holding pattern: Russia-Georgia relations remain tense”, Jane’s Intelligence Review, vol. 21, no. 10, October, pp. 26–9. Google Scholar
• The Moscow Times (2009) “Finland Sees Lesson in Russia-Georgia War”, October 12. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/finland-sees-lesson-in-russia-georgia-war/387206.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• The Moscow Times (2010) “Russia Signs Deal to Build Military Base in Abkhazia”, February 18. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-signs-deal-to-build-military-base-in-abkhazia/400019.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Munro, Ross H. (1994) “China’s Waxing Spheres of Influence”, Orbis, vol. 38, no. 4, Fall, pp. 585–606. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Obama, Barak (2009) Remarks by the President at the New Economic School Graduation, Moscow, July 7, 2009. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-The-President-At-The-New-Economic-School-Graduation (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Pop, Valentin (2009) “Russia does not rule out future NATO membership”, EU Observer, April 1. http://euobserver.com/9/27890?print=1 (accessed June 30, 2010).
• President of Russia (2008) Interview given by President Dmitry Medvedev to Television Channels Channel One, Rossia, NTV. http://www.un.int/russia/new/MainRoot/docs/warfare/statement310808en.htm (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Pushkov, Alexei (2007) “Missed Connections”, The National Interest, no. 89, May–June, pp. 74–81. Google Scholar
• Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich (1999) “Rossiya na rubezhe tysiacheletii [Russia at the turn of the millennium]”, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, December 30. http://www.ng.ru/politics/1999-12-30/4_millenium.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Reuters (2010a) “Military Denies Plans to Boost Baltic Fleet over Patriot Deployment”, The Moscow Times, January 22. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/print/article/military-denies-plans-to-boost-baltic-fleet-over-patriot-deployment/397960.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Reuters (2010b) “Medvedev Objects to ‘Endless’ NATO Expansion”, The Moscow Times, February 26. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/medvedev-objects-to-endless-nato-expansion/400438.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Reuters (2010c) “US Warship Conducts Joint Training with Georgia”, The Moscow Times, March 3. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/us-warship-conducts-joint-training-with-georgia/400788.html (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Rifkin, Malcolm (2009) “The right path for Georgia”, in Adam Hug (ed.), Spotlight on Georgia, London: The Foreign Policy Centre, pp. 92–8. http://fpc.org.uk/fsblob/1079.pdf (accessed June 30, 2010). Google Scholar
• Rondeli, Alexander (2010) “The return of realpolitik: a view from Georgia”, Open Democracy, February 18. http://www.opendemocracy.net/print/50360
• “Russian Military Districts” (2009) http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/mo-md.htm (accessed June 30, 2010).
• Sakwa, Richard (2008) “New Cold War or twenty years crisis? Russia and international politics”, International Affairs, vol. 84, no. 2, March, pp. 241–67. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Sikorski, Radek (2007) “Don’t Take Poland for Granted”, The Washington Post, March 21. Google Scholar
• Simes, Dmitri (2007) “Losing Russia”, Foreign Affairs, vol. 86, no. 6, November/December, pp. 36–52. Google Scholar
• Suny, Ronald (2007) “Living in the Hood: Russia, Empire, and Old and New Neighbours”, in Robert Legvold (ed.), Russian Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century and the Shadow of the Past, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 35–76. Google Scholar
• Trenin, Dmitri (2008a) “Pragmatic power: Russia’s assertive foreign power”, Jane’s Intelligence Review, vol. 20, no. 1, January, pp. 32–35. Google Scholar
• Trenin, Dmitri (2008b) “A Less Ideological America”, The Washington Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 4, Autumn, pp. 117–23. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Trenin, Dmitri (2009) “Russia’s Spheres of Interest, not Influence”, The Washington Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 4, October, pp. 3–22. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Tsygankov, Andrei P. (2005) “Vladimir Putin’s vision of Russia as a normal great power”, Post-Soviet Affairs, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 132–58. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Tsygankov, Andrei P. (2006) “If Not by Tanks, then by Banks? The Role of Soft Power in Putin’s Foreign Policy”, Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 58, no. 7, November, pp. 1079–99. ArticleGoogle Scholar
• Vershbow, Alexander (2009) “Crafting the new Strategic Concept: Ambitions, Resources and Partnerships for a 21st century Alliance”, October 22. http://nato.usmission.gov/Texts/Vershbow10222009.asp (accessed June 30, 2010).

1. John Berryman