Russia’s Turn to the East: Domestic Policymaking and Regional Cooperation

Description

This book is open access under a CC BY license. This book explores if and how Russian policies towards the Far East region of the country – and East Asia more broadly – have changed since the onset of the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Following the 2014 annexation and the subsequent enactment of a sanctions regime against the country, the Kremlin has emphasized the eastern vector in its external relations. But to what extent has Russia’s 'pivot to the East' intensified or changed in nature – domestically and internationally – since the onset of the current crisis in relations with the West? Rather than taking the declared 'pivot' as a fact and exploring the consequences of it, the contributors to this volume explore whether a pivot has indeed happened or if what we see today is the continuation of longer-duration trends, concerns and ambitions. Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Gateway or Garrison? Border Regions in Times of Geopolitical Crisis (Helge Blakkisrud, Elana Wilson Rowe)....Pages 1-9 An Asian Pivot Starts at Home: The Russian Far East in Russian Regional Policy (Helge Blakkisrud)....Pages 11-30 Primorskii Krai and Russia’s ‘Turn to the East’: A Regional View (Tamara Troyakova)....Pages 31-49 Promoting New Growth: ‘Advanced Special Economic Zones’ in the Russian Far East (Jiyoung Min, Boogyun Kang)....Pages 51-74 The Russian Far East and Russian Security Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region (Malin Østevik, Natasha Kuhrt)....Pages 75-94 Did China Bankroll Russia’s Annexation of Crimea? The Role of Sino-Russian Energy Relations (Indra Overland, Gulaikhan Kubayeva)....Pages 95-118 Russia, China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Diverging Security Interests and the ‘Crimea Effect’ (Marc Lanteigne)....Pages 119-138 Russia’s New Asian Tilt: How Much Does Economy Matter? (Roman Vakulchuk)....Pages 139-157 Afterword: 6400 Kilometres Away—But Not a Policy World Apart (Elana Wilson Rowe, Helge Blakkisrud)....Pages 159-164 Back Matter ....Pages 165-167