What are the three rival schools of thought that have shaped Kremlin foreign policy debates since 1991?
Atlanticists seek a closer relationship with the United States and the Western world. Imperialists seek to recover the semi-hegemonic status Russia lost after the Soviet collapse. Neo-Slavophiles promote isolation of Russia within its own cultural sphere. A fourth major current, Eurasianism, has become the dominant official ideology under Vladimir Putin.
What did Putin say at the 2007 Munich Conference on Security Policy?
Putin criticized U.S. monopolistic dominance in global relations and accused the United States of an almost unconstrained hyper use of force in international affairs. He argued this policy meant no one felt safe and that it stimulated an arms race.
Why did the United Kingdom expel Russian diplomats in July 2007?
Prime Minister Gordon Brown expelled four Russian envoys on the 20th of July 2007 after Putin refused to extradite former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi, wanted in the UK for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. The Russian constitution prohibits extraditing Russian nationals.
What was significant about Putin's October 2007 visit to Tehran?
Putin's participation in the Second Caspian Summit in Tehran was the first visit by a Kremlin leader to Iran since Joseph Stalin attended the Tehran Conference in 1943.
How did the international community respond to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine?
141 countries approved a March 2022 UN resolution condemning the invasion and demanding full withdrawal of Russian forces. More than 600 Russian diplomats were declared persona non grata that year. The European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, and other countries imposed substantial economic and political sanctions.
How vulnerable is Russia's foreign policy position to a global energy transition?
Russia ranks 148th out of 156 countries in the GeGaLo index measuring geopolitical gains and losses after energy transition. Russia's international power depends heavily on fossil fuel revenues, including oil, gas, and coal exports, so a completed shift to renewables would substantially reduce its global leverage.