The Religious Factor in Russia's Foreign Policy: Keeping God on our Side

Description

This book examines how religion interacts with Russian foreign policy, arguing that religion is an important and neglected factor in shaping Russia’s outlook towards international relations. It surveys the importance of religion for social life in Russia, both historically and at present, and considers a wide range of Russian attitudes which are affected by religion – such as Russian nationalism, notions of Slavic solidarity, the divine mission of Russian Orthodox civilisation, Russian imperialism, Russia’s special approach towards Islam. The book discusses how religious organizations, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, operate in international relations, pursuing their own interests and those of the Russian state; explores how religious ideas and culture linked to religion impinge on Russian attitudes and identity, and thereby affect policy; and demonstrates how policy influenced by religion impacts on Russian foreign policy in practice in a wide range of examples, including Russia’s relations with other orthodox countries, non-orthodox Western countries, Muslim countries, Israel and the Vatican. Front Cover The Religious Factor in Russia’s Foreign Policy Copyright Page Contents Introduction Part I: The religious factor in Russian politics: past and present 1. Evolution of the role of religion in the history of the Russian state 2. Religion in the social and political life of the Russian Federation 3. Religion in Russian views on foreign policy Part II: Religious diplomacy of the Russian Federation 4. Characteristics of Russian “religious diplomacy” 5. Russia’s Orthodox brotherhood with Belarus and Serbia 6. The Betrayal Syndrome in Russia’s relationships with Ukraine, Estonia and Georgia 7. Occasional community: Russian Policy on Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Montenegro 8. The long shadow of Byzantium: Russian–Greek relations in the face of rivalry between two churches 9. Between fear and the necessity of cooperation: Russian policy on Muslim countries 10. Among us, the chosen nations: Tendencies in Russian–Israeli relations 11. Neighbourhood of giants: The place of the Russian Federation in Asian cultural space between India and the People’s Republic of China 12. There can be only one Rome: Russia’s traumatic relationship with the Vatican 13. The Antichrist lives in the West: The ideological burden of Russia’s policy on the United States of America Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index