Russia’s Enhanced role in Eurasia: the ‘near abroad’ three decades on*

ABSTRACT Russian policy has become much more hostile to the West in the last decade. Did the West, much as President Putin has charged, attempt to constrain or contain Russian influence in its ‘near abroad,' and, if so, were they successful in their efforts? It was Moscow’s decision to pursue its own path, by not integrating into the West, that put it at odds with the West. Besides its military intervention in Georgia, by fall 2008 Russia had successfully warded off most Western attempts to tie several post-Soviet states more closely to the West. With the collapse of the pro-Russian Yanukovych government in Ukraine six years later and the Russian military intervention in Crimea and its incorporation into the Russian Federation, and the establishment of Russian protectorates in the secessionist regions of eastern Ukraine and has led to its current invasion of Ukraine. It is extremely important to recognize the role of Moscow's view of Russia in relationship to the rest of the world since this almost messianic perception lies at the heart of foreign relations. Russians' current nationalism and self-image as a great power is built on centuries of such a view and implies Russia's dominant role, at least in its own neighborhood.