JOURNAL OF CENTERAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS STUDIES
Year:2012 | Volume:18 | Issue:77|Papers Count:8

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, in several phases and various ways, Russian governmental properties were surrendered to buyers. Subsequently, many individuals gained enormous economic power and thus started exercising political influence and interfering in the macro decision making of the country. After Vladimir Putin took power, these so-called oligarchs were forced to change their ways. The article starts with the question of Putin's policy toward these individuals and ends with how this policy changed the situation created by Russia's oligarchs. The article argues that by drafting the "equal distance" law, Putin sought for restoring power in Kremlin and to reserve clear boundary with the oligarchs and the owners of large commercial firms. From this moment, the oligarchs have been dispersed to Russia's regions and districts and at the federal level have become less effective, though still more loyal than Yeltsin era.

Popular uprisings in the North Africa and the Middle East, known as the Arab Spring, not only rocked the Arab world, but also made other countries fear about their consequences as well. Causing serious changes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, the uprisings led to some other developments in some other countries as Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria and the Saudi Arabia, consequently, creating some fears and hopes for Russia. In fact, causing some concerns and challenges, the developments made Russia changing its traditional approaches to achieve its objectives and interests in the Middle East. The article attempts to investigate the Arab Spring’s effects and consequences for Russia.

Putin’s policies have had significant impact on Russian foreign policy after the Cold War. Despite the fact that Putin sought for increasing Russia’s power to the same level as the Cold War, however; he was aware that the nature of the international system has undergone serious changes. Therefore, some specific factors including close collaboration with the United States, an energy-oriented foreign policy and a realistic approach were taken in to consideration in Russia’s foreign policy.After taking power and by giving a new definition on Russian national interests and adopting new policies in different poliotico-econimic, military and security areas, Putin tried to redefine Russia’s stance in the international system. Therefore, the best option for Russia was avoiding any competition and trying to allocate national sources and facilities for developments and economic reconstruction and taking an optimum not ideal share in international economy in various areas including energy, world trade and modern technologies.Close collaboration with the United States after 11 September 2001 could be regarded as the most realistic approach taken by Putin in Russian foreign policy. Putin’s return to power in 2012 could create a new trend in Russia’s foreign policy. In this article, after taking a brief review on Putin’s first presidential term, we will try to examine the prospects of Russia’s foreign policy in Putin’s new era to see whether or not there will be a change or continuity in the upcoming years.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, though the power and position of the Russian Federation in the international system has diminished, all international observers have been waiting since the birth of this new actor to find out how the main heir to the great superpower of the Orient would regulate its macro orientations and strategies in international relations arena. The importance of the point revealed when the UN Security Council’s permanent membership and the Soviet Union nuclear and space capabilities were given to the Russian Federation and these are still maintaining a determining stance in the world strategic equations. Hence, the know-how of Russia’s regulating international relations strategy is of remarkable importance for its great powers’ neighbors. Reviewing various approaches of Euratlantic, Eurasia and Centralism in Russian foreign policy, the paper is to analyze the macro indicators and the main criteria for each approach and its influence on other actors in the international system and will finally explain the most likely approach to map the stance of the Russian Federation in the international system in the 21st century.

The article focuses on China’s influence as a rising power in the Central Asia’s geo-economy. As the outcome of this presence, the region’s geo-economy has such changed that China became the most important player in the fields of commerce, investment and transit as well. The increasing influence of China in the Central Asia region, has not only changed the regional wealth and power equations, but transformed the traditional rivalry of the great powers into a new era as well. Influenced by the Chinese presence, the ultra regional powers have also been faced with a new type of regional equation. Early indications on the current status of the region show that China's strategic desire is going to expand the geo-economical sphere of influence into an area of geopolitical. In case of continuity and success in diversifying China’s areas of influence in Central Asia, it seems quite likely that the region’s economic and political order will substantively suffer innate changes.

Taking power by the Democrats led by Barrack Obama, amounted to a wide range of changes in the field of American foreign policy which in many dimensions varies from the era of the neo-conservatisms. Among the most vivid distinctions could be the change in the approach of the American foreign policy towards the South Caucasus region. The main questions in here would be the direction of these changes and the reasons behind and the consequences of the changes in the South Caucasus region. The outcome of the article indicates that under Obama administration, the region disembarked from Washington's strategic priorities. US foreign policy’s change of attitude, reset of relations with Russia, and the US refrain from creating tensions in the Russian peripheral sub-systems, focus of American defense and foreign policy on the Middle East, and austerity measures due to the domestic financial crisis, could be the most important reasons behind the Obama administration’s approach towards South Caucasus. Besides, some facts like considerable cuts in the financial aids provided by the US government for three countries of the region, reduction of the US support level extended to the Georgian government, relative strain in Baku-Washington relations due to severe pressure by the American side on Turkey-Armenia normalization of ties and Obama’s non compliance with his promises given during his presidential election campaign to the effect that he would recognize genocide of the Armenians in 1915, should be known as the most important consequences of adopting such approach. Seemingly, in the event of fundamental changes like recurring a US-Russian confrontation under Vladimir Putin's new administration, taking power by the Republicans in the upcoming US presidential election, and relative improvement in its economic conditions, one could witness a different approach by Washington toward South Caucasus and its re-gaining importance in the US foreign policy strategies.