December 2021 marks thirty years since the signing of the Belavezha Accords that dissolved the Soviet Union. After a short period of retreat, Russian foreign policy has been driven by two interconnected goals, with the pursuit of its great-power status going hand in hand with the wish to retain hegemony in the post-Soviet space. Following Ukraine’s Euromaidan Revolution of 2014, Russian foreign policy has become even more assertive, which has generated both successes and failures to Moscow and its neighbours. Russia remains a pivotal actor in the former Soviet Union, especially in Central Asia, but its influence as well as its attraction as a societal role model and a security provider are not necessarily on the rise.
The seminar organized by FIIA will examine how Russian policy in the post-Soviet space looks at the moment, what kind of responses Russia’s growing assertiveness has triggered in its neighbourhood and what role Western and non-Western players play in this context?
The seminar will serve as a launch of two new FIIA’s Briefing Papers dealing with these issues:
FIIA Briefing Paper 321. Three decades of Russian policy in the European part of the post-Soviet space: Swimming against the current
FIIA Briefing Paper 322. Russian policy towards Central Asia 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union: Sphere of influence shrinking?
