Book Launch: Russian Westernizers & Change International Relations

A good colleague of mine Andrey P. Tsygankov, professor of International Relations at San Francisco State University, wrote a new book on an incredibly important subject of Russian thinkers and politicians who have considered Western/European civilization to be superior to others and who have drawn the conclusion that Russia consequently ought to align itself with the West.

They believed that a failure to align with the West would be an impediment to political, social, and economic evolution of Russia. Within this trend of thought, Prof. Tsygankov identifies four schools:
♟Christian Westernizers
♟Economic Liberals
♟Political Liberals
♟Social State Supporters
and explores examples of each.

He then compares Russian thinkers from different periods, finding contrasts and similarities within their political and historical settings and assessing their responses to their unique circumstances. He analyzes Russian Westernizers’ self‑definition and ideas of national freedom relative to those of Western nations, exploring how the West’s definition of values and institutions has changed over time.

He also shows how Western historical developments affected waves of Westernization and pro‑Western thinking inside Russia, arguing the importance of this being grounded in national state‑building priorities. The growing complexity of global relations, the declining global influence of the West, and the conflict in Ukraine present Russian Westernizers with new questions and challenges, and this book assesses the resulting implications.

This book will definitely appeal to students and scholars of Russian foreign policy, Russia–West relations, IR theory, diplomatic studies, political science, and European history including the history of ideas.

Routledge & CRC Press

Russian Westernizers and Change in International Relations: The Promised West

Russian Westernizers and Change in International Relations summarizes the Westernizing trend in Russian thought from the early nineteenth century to the present day. This book looks at Russian thinkers and politicians who have considered Western/European…

A New Stab at Russia's Mediation Role in the Middle East?

Of all the symbolic things that have happened at the SPIEF this year this one is of particular interest: yet another U.S. ally in the Middle East, Bahrain ??, reached out to Moscow in a bid to help re-establish diplomatic relations with Iran ??.

Manama had cut off diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2016 following a spike in tensions between Saudi Arabia ?? and Iran. Bahrain had also accused Iran of involvement in antigovernment protests that swept the country in 2011.

Saudi Arabia normalized its own relations with Iran as part of a Chinа-brokered agreement last year.

Last month, during a visit to Moscow, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said the Gulf island looks forward to improved relations with Iran.

Looks like U.S. policy to rally the Gulf Monarchies and Israel ?? around "Iranian threat" is giving some cracks.
Israel's Gaza war, Biden's "leadership" and the Arabs' own interests are taking this to a seemingly different direction.

Al Jazeera

Bahrain sent message through Russia to normalise ties with Iran: Official

Bahraini officials have previously said that Manama is seeking improved relations with Tehran after years of tensions.

Russia's Third Chance to Change Western Foreign Policy Course

The Insights magazine published my essay on the genesis and future of Russia - West confrontation. Have a look.

"The Ukraine crisis may not necessarily be a final chapter in the decade long Russia-West showdown but is definitely a major one.

It followed the same pattern as previous crises: countless attempts for diplomatic solutions turned sour, Moscow's ideas for a political framework peppered by signaling & deterrence would ultimately fall flat.

The post-World War II order was dictated by the winners & shaped around the bipolar confrontation. The world of the post-bipolar order was made possible due to dissolution of one of the poles – the USSR & its allies – and the dominance of the other.

The parties in the present-day confrontation seem to want to use it to return each to the moment of their
highest global influence: Russia - to the times of the end of WWII, the West – to late 1980s – mid 1990s."

New Book: The Russian Way of Deterrence

One of the shrewdest observers of Russia's "things military" Dima Adamsky published his new book on how deterrence à la Russe works.

The book investigates Russia's approach to coercion (both deterrence and compellence), comparing and contrasting it with the Western conceptualization of this strategy. He argues that deterrence is one of the main tools of Russian statecraft and deftly describes the genealogy of the Russian approach to coercion. He also highlights the cultural, ideational, and historical factors that have shaped it in the nuclear, conventional, and informational domains.

Drawing on extensive research on Russian strategic culture, Adamsky highlights several empirical and theoretical peculiarities of the Russian coercion strategy, including how this strategy relates to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Plenty to digest, a lot to argue about and some to disagree with, but definitely a worthy read. I will do a book review for this one later this month.

Semiconductors: a Role for Russia?

Mainstream thinking on chips evolves around potential conflict of mainland China with Taiwan. It suggests that since each produces 22% of global microchips, a military crisis would put the whole industry (and the world) in serious crisis. True. But there's one element missing.

Russia accounts for 80% of the market for sapphire substrates - thin plates made of artificial stone, which are used in opto- and microelectronics to build up layers of various materials such as silicon. They are used in every processor in the world. Russia holds an even stronger position in special chip-etching chemistry using ultra-clean components, accounting for less than 100% of the world's supply of certain rare earth elements used for these purposes. A ban on finished products for Russia will result in a retaliatory ban on the supply of these components, possibly causing a shortage of processors globally.

As the sanctions war is getting uglier, the cost-benefit analysis would help.

Putin goes to China: nuts & bolts

President Putin begins his state visit to China (May 16-17).

By now, Putin visited China 18 times, this will be his 19th trip.
⭐️ 4 official visits during the 1st & 2nd presidential terms (2000-2008);
⭐️ 2 visits to Shanghai for other international gatherings around the same time period;
⭐️ 12 times during his 2rd and 4th presidential terms (2012-2023).

To compare, all American presidents combined have visited China 14 times, including Obama 3 times during 8 years of his presidency, Trump - 1, Biden - 0.

Putin brings with him top policy-makers of economic, financial. energy and trade domains.

This includes:
⭐️ Deputy heads of the presidential administration Maksim Oreshkin and spokesman Dmitry Peskov;
⭐️ Six deputy prime ministers: First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Ministers Tatyana Golikova, Alexander Novak, Yury Trutnev, Dmitry Chernyshenko - they all head intergovernmental commissions from Russia end - as well as Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev. All of them will deliver reports;
⭐️ Central Bank Governor (Elvira Nabiullina), Finance Minister (Anton Siluanov), Economic Development Minister (Maksim Reshetnikov), head of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Yury Chikhanchin);
⭐️ Heads of economic agencies, heads of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (Dmitry Shugayev), Russian Railways (Oleg Belozerov), Rosatom (Alexey Likhachev) and Roscosmos (Yury Borisov).

On top of that a big cohort of bussiness folks:
⭐️ Rosneft board chairman Igor Sechin
⭐️ Co-chair of the Russian-Chinese Committee of Friendship, Peace and Development, Russian Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights Boris Titov
⭐️ Head of the Russian-Chinese Business Council and owner of Volga Group Gennady Timchenko
⭐️ Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Executive Board of Sber Herman Gref
⭐️ Oleg Deripaska, business tycoon
⭐️ Chief Executive Officer of Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev
⭐️ Chief Executive Officer of VTB Andrey Kostin
⭐️ Board chairmen of Rusnano (Sergey Kulikov) & Novatek (Leonid Mikhelson)
⭐️ Head of the Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia) Association Alexey Repik
⭐️ President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin
⭐️ Chairman of VEB.RF Igor Shuvalov.

TASS

Heads of economic agencies, Roscosmos to join Russia’s delegation in China

Yury Ushakov noted that he would also join the delegation, and apart from him the presidential administration will be represented by deputy heads of the presidential administration Maksim Oreshkin and Dmitry Peskov