Abstract:

Desiring to form an international system depending on multipolarity, Russia wants to be one of the main actors to take part in such a structure as a “global” power. In order to achieve this aim, Moscow must direct and enhance its political effectiveness at the former Soviet geography. However, it is very difficult to integrate the newly independent countries that have long been a part of the USSR or the states which were in the Eastern Bloc, into political and systemic interests of Russia. The reason for this is that Russia cannot easily attract the people/states of the region for economic, social and political reasons. For this reason, we see Russia acting as a realistic actor, trying to use the security and energy dependency of the countries in the region. However, there is another important factor that Russia has recently attached to its foreign policy. Moscow uses the “frozen conflict zones” that arise in the context of ethnic/religious identity and in which the borders drawn during the USSR to manipulate the foreign policy orientations of these countries according to its own interest. It is also true that this strategy has positive consequences for Russia in the Caucasus, Ukraine and Moldova.

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