Suchergebnisse

This book analyses Russia's strategy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the turbulent period since the inception of the Arab Spring. It explores the key policy challenges faced by Russia in the context of Russia's relations with both the regional states and the major external powers. The book incorporates chapters on Russia's involvement in MENA affairs, its intervention in the Syrian civil war, the domestic sources of its foreign policy, its clash with the Western powers over issues pertaining to sovereignty and humanitarian norms, its response to the challenge posed by Islamist extremism, and its political-military and economic interests in the MENA region. The book offers an original, critical analysis of Russia's thinking and decision-making and examines the implications of its more assertive foreign policy strategy following its military interventions in Syria and Ukraine.

The tip of the democratisation spear? : role and importance of the georgian armed forces in the context of democratisation and European integration / Marion Kipiani -- Russian governance of the North Caucasus : dilemmas of force and inclusion / Julie Wilhelmsen -- Overcoming the status quo in the unrecognised states of the South Caucasus : internal and external limitations / Roxana Andrei -- Transformation policies and local modernisation initiatives in the North Caucasus / V. Kolosov, O.I. Vendina, A.A. Gritsenko, M.V.Zotova, O.B. Glezer, A.A.Panin, A.B. Sebentsov, and V.N. Streletskii -- The making of groups, boundaries and cleavages in the South Caucasus: from macro to micro dynamics / Giulia Prelz Oltramonti -- Arctic labour migration, vulnerability and social change in the South Caucasus : the case of Azerbaijanis in the polar cities of Murmansk and Norilsk / Sophie Hohmann -- War veterans of Caucasian conflicts : diverging trajectories of war-related resources in "post-conflict" situations / Aude Merlin and Taline Papazian -- "Exorcism of cultural otherness" : the refugee women in post-Soviet Armenia / Evia Hovhannisyan.

Western analysis perceives Russian approaches to issues of humanitarian intervention and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as running counter to western-inspired international norms. This debate has surfaced with some vigour over Russia's policy in the Syria conflict where, in order to protect its strategic interests in Syria, an obstructionist Moscow has been accused of ignoring humanitarian considerations and allowing time for the Assad regime to crush the opposition by vetoing a resolution threatening to impose sanctions. While Russian approaches are undoubtedly explained by a desire to maximize its growing political influence and trade advantages to serve its legitimate foreign policy interests, and while Moscow's attitudes to intervention and R2P exhibit important differences from those of the major western liberal democracies, its arguments are in fact framed within a largely rational argument rooted in 'traditional' state-centred international law. This article first highlights key arguments in the scholarly literature on intervention and R2P before going on to examine the evolution of Russian views on these issues. The analysis then focuses on the extent to which Moscow's arguments impact on international legal debates on the Libya and Syria conflicts. The article then seeks to explore how Russian approaches to intervention/R2P reflect fundamental trends in its foreign policy thinking and its quest for legitimacy in a negotiated international order. Finally, it attempts to raise some important questions regarding Russia's role in the future direction of the intervention/R2P debates. (International Affairs (Oxford) / SWP)