Russian Policy in the face of global uncertainty: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Since February 2022, the foreign policy of the Russian Federation has been carried out in a fundamentally new reality. Contradictions between Russia and Western states have escalated. The reason for the escalation is the policy of the West, which in the last decade has consistently taken steps aimed at changing the current system in the fi eld of maintaining global security and stability in international relations. The United States began to implement a course focused on preserving its dominant position in world politics and the economy. The political leadership of the United States strives to achieve these goals by putting pressure on their partners and geopolitical competitors, primarily Russia and China. Such US aspirations have provoked opposition from Russia, which has faced new challenges since March 2014 following the reunifi cation of Crimea with the Russian state. After that, the West radically revised its political course towards Russia and began to implement the sanctions policy. The pressure on Russia has led to growing tensions with the West, and more recently to open confrontation. The provocative measures taken to preserve the confl ict in the Donbass were supplemented by preparations for an armed confl ict between Ukraine and Russia. Moreover, the West purposefully pushed Kyiv to a military confl ict with the Russian Federation, which after February 2022 was forced to radically revise its approaches to foreign policy. The intensifi ed confrontation with the West has set the task for Russia to revise its foreign policy in many areas. In particular, Russia began to pursue a new energy and economic policy and to expand contacts with non-Western states. At the same time, geopolitical turbulence provides Russia with new opportunities. In the fi eld of international relations, the Russian Federation have a chance to reduce its dependence on the West, which for a long time acted as the main foreign policy partner. In this sense, Russia’s relations with non-Western states open up new opportunities for defending its geopolitical positions.