The Covid-19 emergency will likely exacerbate many longstanding vulnerabilities that Russia has been facing for years: excessive dependence on energy exports, clashes with the West, demographic problems, and a constant foreign policy overreach.
On foreign policy, however, Russia is not expected to take a step back. Today's Russia is back in many “old” theatres where the Soviet Union was actively engaged. More than a quarter of a century after the fall of the USSR, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has made restoring his country's great power status a primary goal of his 20 years in power.
What are the elements of continuity and change between Russia’s foreign policy and the Soviet Union’s? What are the political, historical, military and economic dimensions of Russia’s return to old Soviet theatres of influence? And how does this interact with Moscow's long-standing narrative of a return to a multipolar world?
Introduction
Paolo Magri
1. Russia First? The New Constitution's Impact on Domestic and Foreign Policy
Elena Alekseenkova
2. Greater Eurasia. Opportunity or Downsizing for Russia?
Aldo Ferrari
3. Branding the Country and Its Leader: Soft Power Made in Russia
Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti
4. Russian Meddling in Democratic Processes in Europe and the US
Giorgio Comai
5. Arab Public Opinion: The View on Russia’s Foreign Policy
Wolfgang Mühlberger
6. Russia in Latin America: Beyond Economic Opportunities
Alexandra G. Koval, Vladimir Rouvinski
7. Russia’s Enduring Quest for Great Power Status in Sub-Saharan Africa
Samuel Ramani
