DOCSLIB.ORG

Age of Triangular Politicking

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Age of Triangular Politicking CHINA- RUSSIA RELATIONS AGE OF TRIANGULAR POLITICKING YU BIN, WITTENBURG UNIVERSITY China and Russia found themselves entangled in two separate triangular dynamics with the US and India. Russia, however, found itself in a curiously pivotal position within the two geopolitical triangles: an “innocent” bystander in the Beijing-New Delhi-Moscow trio and a useful, delicate balancer in the Washington-Beijing duel. Between its strategic partner (China) and persistent yet unrequited courter (the Trump administration), Russia carefully played its cards from a position of strategic weakness. By end of summer, the US-China-Russia triangle made its way into the US 2020 presidential elections as presidential candidates played the “Russia” and “China” cards. No matter who wins the 2020 US election, the stakes are high for China and Russia. This article is extracted from Comparative Connections: A Triannual E-Journal of Bilateral Relations in the Indo-Pacific, Vol. 22, No. 2, September 2020. Preferred citation: Yu Bin, “China-Russia Relations: Age of Triangular Politicking” Comparative Connections, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp 129-140. CHINA- RUSSIA RELATIONS | SEPTEMBER 2020 129 While the coronavirus raged throughout international justice, multilateralism, peace, summer 2020, China and Russia found and development. themselves entangled in two separate triangular dynamics with the US and India. China faced off Putin thanked Xi for preserving the memory of with India along the long mountainous border, thousands of Soviet soldiers and volunteers that culminating in the June 15 deadly brawls. perished in China. According to Chinese Meanwhile, the “whole-of-government Ambassador Zhang Hanhui, the Soviet Union approach” of the Trump administration against was the only country to provide direct military China led to a near-freefall in bilateral relations, assistance to China in the early phase of China’s featuring the highly ideologized, militarized war with Japan. This included $170 million in connotations of the Cold War (1947-1991). In funding, 1,200 airplanes, 1,317 artillery pieces, both cases, China’s strategic space was large amounts of munitions, and petroleum. increasingly constrained. While history embodies powerful symbolism for Russia and China, the two also discussed current Russia, however, found itself in a curiously challenges, particularly the pandemic. They pivotal position within the two geopolitical reaffirmed cooperation for vaccine triangles: an “innocent” bystander in the development, joint efforts to control the Beijing-New Delhi-Moscow trio and a useful, pandemic at the global level, and avoiding delicate balancer in the Washington-Beijing politicization of the issue. They also agreed to duel. Between its strategic partner (China) and enhance communication and coordination persistent yet unrequited courter (the Trump within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization administration), Russia carefully played its (SCO) and BRICS frameworks, and that the two cards from a position of strategic weakness. By countries would resume high-level visits after end of summer, the US-China-Russia triangle the pandemic. made its way into the US 2020 presidential elections as presidential candidates played the On July 8, Putin and Xi talked again by phone. Xi “Russia” and “China” cards. No matter who congratulated Putin on the success of the wins the 2020 US election, the stakes are high national vote on the constitution, which allows for China and Russia. the 67-year Putin to potentially stay in power up to 2036. Xi pledged China’s support for Russia’s Virtual Diplomacy, Real-world Issues choice to follow its own path of development and its effort to reach its goals. The Russian Summer is peak season for diplomatic activities president expressed thanks for the People’s and Moscow and Beijing planned a series of Liberation Army’s participation in Russia’s high-level exchanges for the 75th anniversary of Victory Day parade and said Russia’s Russia’s Great Patriotic War (World War II) constitutional amendments helped maintain victory. The pandemic, however, forced the two Russia's long-term political stability, better sides to suspend all planned activities, replacing safeguarding national sovereignty and opposing a few of them with phone calls and external interference. Regarding a national videoconferencing. security law for Hong Kong, Putin told Xi that Russia firmly supports China's efforts to On May 8, Xi initiated a call to Putin, safeguard national security in the Hong Kong congratulating the Russian president on the Special Administrative Region. Great Patriotic War anniversary. Several leaders—including Boris Johnson, Angela The two calls were perhaps the most they could Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Benjamin do in the pandemic, which posed “a serious Netanyahu, Abe Shinzo, and Donald Trump— challenge” to bilateral relations, according to a also called Putin prior to the commemoration. joint group of scholars in late Aug.. In his phone The Chinese president, however, sought to call with Putin on July 8, Xi went as far as to connect China and the Soviet Union by saying anticipate a “prolonged pandemic.” For this, the the two countries were the main WWII theaters Chinese leader suggested that the two sides for, respectively, Asia and Europe. He noted adopt more flexible and diverse ways for the special importance of this date cooperation, including the reopening of the for the peoples of their countries, who sustained economy. the heaviest losses in the war. And China was willing, together with Russia, to safeguard the Senior diplomats managed to engage on many victory of WWII and the international order for occasions. Chinese officials and diplomats 130 SEPTEMBER 2020 | CHINA- RUSSIA RELATIONS publicly supported the Russian constitutional this region is safe for the peoples of China and amendment, while, Russian officials endorsed India." China’s position on the Hong Kong issue. Regional issues and hot spots also attracted Despite the clash and growing pressure in India their attention. Foreign ministers of SCO and to “punish China,” the scheduled Russian- BRICS met via videoconferencing on May 13 and Indian-China dialogue (RIC) went ahead on June Aug. 26, respectively. On May 14, Russian 23 with Russia chairing the annual tri-party Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese talks via videoconference. In their televised counterpart joined a four-party videoconference opening speeches, none of the three foreign with Iran and Pakistan on Afghanistan. This was ministers directly addressed the border clash. followed by a trilateral teleconsultation on June 4 between the Russian, US, and Chinese special While Lavrov and Wang covered the pre-set representatives on Afghan affairs. agenda of global/regional issues, COVID crises, etc., Jaishankar went out of his way to remind Russia between Two Partners: Diplomacy of his Russian and Chinese counterparts of India’s Doing Nothing? contribution to the victory of WWII, in which 2.3 million Indian troops helped the Allies win The India-China border disputes injected new World War II. The history-minded Indian chemistry into Eurasian politicking, as both secretary of external affairs, however, also sides are Russia’s strategic partners. Starting aimed at China’s unwillingness to support from early May, a series of standoffs and India’s ascendance to permanent membership physical clashes occurred along the Line of of the UN Security Council (UNSC).Russia Actual Control (LAC) in the Pangong Lake area already publicly supports India as a permanent and then Sikkim. On June 15, an hours-long member of a reformed and expanded UNSC, brawl occurred in the remote Galwan Valley. which Lavrov reiterated at his post-conference Twenty Indian soldiers reportedly died, dozens news briefing. were wounded, and several captured (before being released later). Chinese casualties were The circumvention of the clash was expected unknown. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi given the RIC rule of not addressing bilateral and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam issues. After the RIC session, Lavrov ruled out Jaishankar talked over the phone on June 17 and the possibility of Moscow acting as a mediator agreed to de-escalate. between India and China. “I see no reason that Russia or anyone else would be imposing their This border clash, the worst in 40 years between services on India and China in order to solve the two Asian giants, alarmed Russia. For more their own problems,” he remarked, adding that than three decades Russia has promoted and “I don’t think that India and China need help steered the Russian-Indian-China trilateral and assistance aiming to somehow resolve their mechanism (RIC) for multiple purposes. This disputes or situations … Military commanders included projecting Russian influence across met on the ground immediately after the border Eurasia and countering perceived Western incidents, and foreign ministers contacted each influence, but also balancing steadily growing other, too. As far as I understand, these contacts Chinese clout. Russia’s effort to bring India into also continue today. Neither party has made any the SCO, which occurred in 2017, was seen as statements about a reluctance to reach an part of Russia’s grand strategy for the volatile agreement under mutually acceptable Eurasian landscape. The June 15 clash was an approaches.” immediate, serious challenge to Russia’s special role in the trio as well as Eurasian stability. Russia’s reluctance to mediate, at least publicly, does not necessarily mean nothing happened Lavrov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov between the three top diplomats. During their expressed concerns on June 17. “Both China and videoconference, Lavrov proposed a RIC defense India are very close partners for us, allies,” said ministerial meeting later this year. Wang Peskov. “We are paying close attention to what supported the idea and suggested a series of RIC is happening on the China-India border.” He ministerial dialogues for cooperation in trade, also believed that China and India "are capable energy, transportation, education, cultural by themselves of taking steps so that such exchanges, health, and forums of experts and situations do not happen again ..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Another Espionage Scandal in the Relations Between Bulgaria and Russia Evgeniy Kandilarov
    ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 38, No. 4 (BG) March 2021 Bulgaria external relations briefing: Another Espionage Scandal in the Relations between Bulgaria and Russia Evgeniy Kandilarov 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: CHen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 Another Espionage Scandal in the Relations between Bulgaria and Russia Summary Following the arrest in Bulgaria of six people on suspicion of espionage, Bulgarian foreign ministry has declared two senior Russian diplomats a persona non grata and gave them 72 hours to leave, the country. Although the announcement does not state a link between the events, the expulsions directly follow a major intelligence operation on March 19, when a network of local spies, some of them members of the Ministry of Defense, was uncovered after months of investigations. Sofia has now expelled eight Russian diplomats, including a military attache, over suspected spying since October 2019, putting a strain on historically close ties between Moscow. In 2020 Bulgaria has declared Russian citizens accused of espionage persona non grata four times and at the beginning of 2021 two more Russian diplomats were ordered to leave in accusations of espionage as well. All these diplomatic scandals are gradually escalating and leading to growing tensions between Bulgaria and Russia, at least on a public level. This is happening entirely in the spirit of the deepening European anti-Russian public campaign. This process is also a function of the growing tensions in US-Russian relations, clearly visible in the aggressive rhetoric of the new US president.
    [Show full text]
  • Estonia External Relations Briefing: in Search for a Unified Foreign Policy: Just About Time to Do It… E-MAP Foundation MTÜ
    ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 25, No. 4 (EE) Jan 2020 Estonia external relations briefing: In search for a unified foreign policy: just about time to do it… E-MAP Foundation MTÜ 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: Chen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 In search for a unified foreign policy: just about time to do it… There is a certain logic of starting this briefing where the previous one was finished off: it is too good to be left out, since a particular argument needs to be made. From 1 January 2020 and for the first time in the country’s history, the Republic of Estonia joined a super-exclusive group of the UN Security Council members – it was done on the non-permanent basis, but not too worry. Not many people will dispute the fact that the UN is a direct ‘product’ of Yalta-45, which, during its existence as the core element of the post-WWII international system, was arguably not capable to be preventing a great deal of brutal invasions, aggressions, and genocides. At the same time, the UN is still the only global diplomatic platform where a serious problem of international significance can be, at least, discussed. Having become an integral part of the UN’s main executive body, Estonia, no doubts, will be doing its utmost best to be remembered as an exceptional performer. Indeed, repeating after a representative of the country to the UN, Estonia “will use all of [its] know-how and allied relations to cover the topics that matter to [it]”, and it is very much understandable that “[e]very foreign policy move, every vote or statement can affect how countries see and feel about Estonia”1.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Deaths Move Past 3M As Virus Lingers
    12 | Monday, April 19, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY WORLD UN expert Global deaths tears into BBC on bias move past 3m over rights By LIA ZHU in San Francisco as virus lingers [email protected] An expert has castigated the BBC for framing a television Despite jabs, lockdowns still a weapon interview with him on alleged amid resurgence, especially in S. Asia human rights abuses by China while ignoring human rights vio- lations by the United States at PARIS — The global COVID-19 home and abroad. death toll passed 3 million on Sat- Jeffrey Sachs, director of the urday as the pandemic speeds up Center for Sustainable Develop- despite vaccination campaigns, Countries with the ment at Columbia University and leading countries such as India to highest incomes are president of the United Nations impose new lockdowns to fight Sustainable Development Solu- spiraling infection numbers. getting vaccinated Representatives of parties to the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action meet in tions Network, said in the inter- It was the latest grim milestone 25 times faster than Vienna, Austria, on Saturday. PROVIDED BY EU DELEGATION IN VIENNA view that he had expected to talk since the novel coronavirus began about climate change but instead to infect more than 139 million those with the was asked to discuss China’s people, leaving billions more lowest.” human rights. under crippling lockdowns and In her opening question, Emma ravaging the global economy. Clara Ferreira Marques, China urges haste on lifting Iran sanctions Barnett, presenter of the program An average of more than 12,000 a columnist for Bloomberg Newsnight, asked whether the deaths were recorded globally VIENNA — A Chinese envoy on the “proximity talks” with the Unit- expressed determination to contin- approach of the administration of every day in the past week, shoot- Saturday urged all parties to a ed States, Wang said.
    [Show full text]
  • Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's Interview with the RBC Media
    EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE 51 Nassim Road, Singapore 258439 Tel: (65) 6235 1832; (65) 6235 1834; Fax: (65) 6733 4780 [email protected]; [email protected] www.singapore.mid.ru PRESS-RELEASE Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the RBC media holding on current international issues (Moscow, May 15, 2020) Question: The coronavirus pandemic has already closed many countries. Do you think the world will be again as open and mobile as it was before the pandemic? Sergey Lavrov: Many discussions are being held on this issue today. Indeed, many COVID-19 response measures are being taken at random because nobody knows for sure how to effectively counter this infection. Decisions are made in response to immediate epidemiological challenges. These measures are seriously restricting the usual life of states, societies, every individual and every family. We couldn’t even imagine that we would need a special pass to leave our homes, our flats. But experts are assuring us that these measures are helping curb the spread of the pandemic. Many countries have shut entry and exit. We have also taken such decisions. Exceptions are made for Russian citizens and their families who happened to be abroad and want to return home, foreign diplomats and those who provide cargo shipments by ground, air, railway and vehicle transport. But foreign travel is banned for the majority of people. This is not just our idea. The majority of states are doing the same. Now these restrictions will be gradually lifted depending on the developments in various countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Kremlin Rewriting World War II History | American Foreign Policy Council
    Kremlin rewriting World War II history August 13, 2019 Herman Pirchner, Jr. Washington Times Related Categories: Democracy and Governance; Europe Military; Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues; Europe; Russia Sept. 1 marks the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland — an event that heralded the beginning of World War II. Two years later, the United States entered the war as an ally of both Great Britain and the Soviet Union. By that time, France and numerous other European nations were effectively under Nazi control. Thousands of speeches will doubtless be given around the world to commemorate the anniversary. Many of them will inevitably stress how the Soviets fought bravely against Germans, suffering over 20 million casualties in the process. Indeed, that tragedy should never be forgotten. Neither, however, should we allow Moscow to whitewash its culpability in building up, and allying with, the Third Reich’s war machine. The Kremlin is already working to do just that. Back in May, on the 75th anniversary of “D-Day,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova endeavored to rewrite World War II history, disputing the significance of the Normandy landings that freed Western Europe from Nazi occupation. The historic Allied efforts, Ms. Zakharova claimed, did not impact the course of the war, which had already been “pre-determined” by the sacrifices of the Soviet Red Army. Such a telling does violence to history. It ignores or minimizes the massive amounts of military and humanitarian supplies that America sent to help the Russian war effort. Moreover, it positions the USSR as a historic moral bulwark against Nazi aggression — rather than as its instigator, at least in the conflict’s early stages.
    [Show full text]
  • Extending Russia Competing from Advantageous Ground
    Extending Russia Competing from Advantageous Ground James Dobbins, Raphael S. Cohen, Nathan Chandler, Bryan Frederick, Edward Geist, Paul DeLuca, Forrest E. Morgan, Howard J. Shatz, Brent Williams C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR3063 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0021-5 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2019 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover: Pete Soriano/Adobe Stock Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface This report documents research and analysis conducted as part of the RAND Corporation research project Extending Russia: Competing from Advantageous Ground, sponsored by the Army Quadrennial Defense Review Office, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G-8, Headquarters, Department of the Army.
    [Show full text]
  • The Two-Sided Sword of Russian Propaganda
    The Two-Sided Sword of Russian Propaganda Global Populisms Conference March 1-2, 2019 Julia Davis, M.S. Russian Media Monitor, Featured Expert with the Atlantic Council’s Disinformation Portal Russia is wielding a robust panoply of weapons in its hybrid war against the West, targeting democratic ideals and propagating populist, illiberal points of view. The Kremlin is most interested in promoting populist parties and agendas in the West, in hopes they will boost the spread of nativist ideology, focusing inward and abandoning democratic values. At the same time, Putin’s Russia is looking outward, seeking to regain control over the post- Soviet space, while using economic incentives and business interests to exercise the undue influence over much of Europe. Western democracies present a challenge to Putin’s regime, since they oppose the Kremlin’s revanchist expansion, counteract its corruption and challenge the diminishing personal liberties in Russian society. Therefore, undermining Western values and disrupting democratic processes remain high on the list of the Kremlin’s most pressing priorities. The bifurcation of the Russian state-controlled media is quite telling in terms of its intent and designed impact. English-speaking media (RT, Sputnik) operates as the weapon of external information warfare against the West, while domestic coverage is designed to convince the local population that such conflict is in Russia’s national interests and is entirely unavoidable. At the intersection between the two paradigms lies the path to understanding the Kremlin’s domestic and foreign objectives. Russian politicians, government officials, the heads of state-controlled media organizations and influential experts openly admit that RT (formerly known as “Russia Today”) was created for the purpose of engaging in information warfare against the West.
    [Show full text]
  • Foreign Policy Lessons from Russian International Media Coverage of Venezuela Sean P
    KENNAN CABLE No. 43 l August 2019 Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses RT's U.S. viewers in an English-dubbed interview posted to YouTube. (Source: YouTube) Reading the RT Leaves: Foreign Policy Lessons from Russian International Media Coverage of Venezuela Sean P. Steiner and Sarah Oates While the crisis in Venezuela has not provoked Turmoil in Venezuela foreign military intervention, it remains a significant part of Russia’s war of words with the West. The late Hugo Chavez’s revolution in Venezuela is in This narrative is evident on RT, Russia’s foreign crisis. Declining oil prices compounded with economic broadcaster.1 RT, the former Russia Today, is a key mismanagement have created drastic food and component of Russia’s foreign media apparatus and medicine shortages and have sparked mass protests a critical foreign policy instrument. It can be difficult against Chavez successor Nicolas Maduro. Maduro to predict Russia’s actions abroad, but analysis won a second term as president in May 2018, but of RT’s English-language coverage of Venezuela the opposition-led National Assembly declared his provides important insights into its foreign policy. inauguration invalid over allegations of voter fraud and intimidation. The National Assembly appointed Juan KENNAN CABLE No. 43 l August 2019 Guaidó as interim president and the U.S., among other These poor investments make sense when nations, quickly recognized his appointment while considering the political capital Russia receives in levying increased economic sanctions on Maduro’s return. Demonstrating Russia’s status as a great officials and Venezuelan industries. Russia steadfastly power is one of Moscow’s key domestic and foreign supports Maduro’s government.
    [Show full text]
  • The Russiagate Hysteria: a Case of Severe Russophobia
    EMBASSY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE RUSSIAGATE HYSTERIA: A CASE OF SEVERE RUSSOPHOBIA APRIL 18, 2019 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 3 TIMELINE OF MAIN EVENTS 7 MAIN DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS BY THE EMBASSY 20 EXAMPLES OF BASELESS ACCUSATIONS BY MEDIA 27 EXAMPLES OF GROUNDLESS ACCUSATIONS BY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS 77 EXAMPLES OF GROUNDLESS ACCUSATIONS BY EXPERTS 89 DEBUNKING KEY CLAIMS OF “RUSSIGATE” 101 CONCLUSION 119 3 HYSTERIA "If American democracy is destroyed within the next generation, it will not be destroyed by the Russians or the Chinese but by ourselves, by the very means we use to defend it". Senator J. WILLIAM FULBRIGHT “American Militarism”, 1970, Epilogue “It is an attempt to lay the blame at someone else’s door. This is not our problem. The problem is in US politics… The other team lost. They are reluctant to acknowledge the mistake. It is easier to say, “We are not to blame, the Russians are to blame, they interfered in our election.” It reminds me of anti-Semitism: the Jews are to blame for everything. We know what such sentiments can lead to. They lead to nothing good. The thing to do is simply to work and think of how to get things right”. VLADIMIR PUTIN President of the Russian Federation, (in response to a question from American journalist Megyn Kelly at the plenary meeting of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 2, 2017) 4 “I believe that this problem is rooted in the domestic developments in the United States. We are not enjoying the current developments, but we did not start it.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Discourse on Borders and Territorial Questions – Crimea As a Watershed?
    russian politics 4 (2019) 211-241 brill.com/rupo Russian Discourse on Borders and Territorial Questions – Crimea as a Watershed? Tuomas Forsberg Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies & Tampere University [email protected] Sirke Mäkinen Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki [email protected] Abstract This article addresses the question of how the Crimean case relates to Russia’s general understanding of territorial questions and border regimes. We examine the histori- cal evolution of Russian discourse on borders and territorial questions and investigate to what extent they can explain Russia’s decision to annex Crimea. We will look into the principles of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity that sustain the status quo, and how this has been challenged by three partly interlinked doctrines: national self-determination, geopolitics, and historical rights. We argue that the discourse on territorial integrity and the status quo has predominated in Russia since the Cold War, and that this has not changed fundamentally, either before or after the annexation of Crimea. Russia does not seem to want to abolish the existing norms altogether or to advocate any clearly articulated reformist agenda. Rather, it picks and chooses argu- ments on an ad hoc basis, imitating Western positions in some other cases when de- parting from the basic norm of the status quo. Hence, we claim that Russia’s territorial revisionism is reactive, self-serving, and constrained by the desire to avoid changing the status quo doctrine to any great extent. Keywords Russia – borders – territorial integrity – national self-determination – historical rights © tuomas forsberg and sirke mäkinen, 2019 | doi:10.1163/2451-8921-00402004 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the cc-by-nc 4.0 License.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia's Afghan Policy in the Regional and Russia-West Contexts
    Études de l’Ifri Études de l’Ifri Russie.Nei.Reports 23 RUSSIA’S AFGHAN POLICY IN THE REGIONAL AND RUSSIA-WEST CONTEXTS Ekaterina STEPANOVA May 2018 Russia/NIS Center The Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri) is a research center and a forum for debate on major international political and economic issues. Headed by Thierry de Montbrial since its founding in 1979, Ifri is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. As an independent think tank, Ifri sets its own research agenda, publishing its findings regularly for a global audience. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Ifri brings together political and economic decision-makers, researchers and internationally renowned experts to animate its debate and research activities. The opinions expressed in this text are the responsibility of the author alone. ISBN: 978-2-36567-855-1 © All rights reserved, Ifri, 2018 How to quote this document: Ekaterina Stepanova, “Russia’s Afghan Policy in the Regional and Russia-West Contexts”, Russie.NEI.Reports, No. 23, May 2018. Ifri 27 rue de la Procession 75740 Paris Cedex 15—FRANCE Tel.: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 00—Fax: +33 (0)1 40 61 60 60 Email: [email protected] Website: Ifri.org Author Dr. Ekaterina Stepanova heads the Peace and Conflict Studies Unit at the Primakov National Research Institute of the World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Moscow. Her research focuses on armed conflicts, terrorism and insurgencies, human security, political economy of conflicts, and peace-building. She is the author of six books, including Terrorism in Asymmetrical Conflict: Ideological and Structural Aspects (Oxford University Press, 2008).
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Hybrid Warfare in Syria: Airforce, Private Military Contractors and Dis-Information
    RUSSIAN HYBRID WARFARE IN SYRIA: AIRFORCE, PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS AND DIS-INFORMATION Maj Clayton A. Van Volkenburg JCSP 43 DL PCEMI 43 AD Exercise Solo Flight Exercice Solo Flight Disclaimer Avertissement Opinions expressed remain those of the author and Les opinons exprimées n’engagent que leurs auteurs do not represent Department of National Defence or et ne reflètent aucunement des politiques du Canadian Forces policy. This paper may not be used Ministère de la Défense nationale ou des Forces without written permission. canadiennes. Ce papier ne peut être reproduit sans autorisation écrite. © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as © Sa Majesté la Reine du Chef du Canada, représentée par represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2018. le ministre de la Défense nationale, 2018. CANADIAN FORCES COLLEGE – COLLÈGE DES FORCES CANADIENNES JCSP 43 DL – PCEMI 43 AD 2017 – 2018 EXERCISE SOLO FLIGHT – EXERCICE SOLO FLIGHT RUSSIAN HYBRID WARFARE IN SYRIA: AIRFORCE, PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS AND DIS-INFORMATION Maj Clayton A. Van Volkenburg “This paper was written by a student “La présente étude a été rédigée par un attending the Canadian Forces College stagiaire du Collège des Forces in fulfilment of one of the requirements canadiennes pour satisfaire à l'une des of the Course of Studies. The paper is a exigences du cours. L'étude est un scholastic document, and thus contains document qui se rapporte au cours et facts and opinions, which the author contient donc des faits et des opinions alone considered appropriate and que seul l'auteur considère appropriés et correct for the subject. It does not convenables au sujet.
    [Show full text]