The World Today Series: Russia and Eurasia deals with twelve sovereign states that became independent following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Approximately one-third of the book is devoted to Russia. The remainder of the book is comprised of separate chapters on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The text focuses heavily on recent economic and political developments within these twelve states. Each country chapter offers descriptions and overviews of the respective governmental institutions, key leaders, civil society dynamics, and economic conditions within each state. It supplements this focus with shorter sections dealing with historical developments, demographics, foreign policy, and cultural elements. Each chapter concludes with brief projections of future developments within each state. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail along with its informed projections make this an outstanding resource for students, researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, and potential investors.

After the Cold War, a new era began in the Eurasian region, with the countries that gained their independence from the USSR acquiring a place in the international system. After 1991, the absence of strong international gravity in Russia increased the positive relations of many countries with the West. As this book shows, across the world, there are regions caught between identity and power. In this respect, the ideological origin of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy goals is connected with its position as a great power. On this note, the book analyses the great powers’ challenges in Eurasia within the framework of strategic interests, conflict, and cooperation.

This book explores power in international relations, in a world characterized by the growing competition of major powers for smaller nations. Focusing on the major powers and smaller countries of Eurasia, it argues that power in international relations is different from coercion and is rather a social contract between a leader state and follower states where reciprocity is key and where leadership relationships cannot be adequately explained by focusing solely on the leader. It challenges the perception that genuine regional leadership is quite common, contending instead that it is rare; that much more often major powers make claims for leadership; and that regional leadership does not indicate the status of a particular state, but rather the social role of the leader, which is recognized by its followers, a role which is always relative and based on communication and constant interaction with followers. The book highlights the important role followers play in recognizing regional power, the importance for a state's regional leadership strategy in creating and holding a valuable position attractive for followers and delivering greater value to followers compared to other potential leaders.

This book presents a comprehensive survey of the current state of Russia and how Russia is likely to develop in the immediate future. Not always sticking to the mainstream narrative, it covers political events including Putin’s constitutional reforms of January 2020 and their likely consequences, economic developments, Russia’s international relations and military activities, and changes and issues in Russian society, including in education, the place of women, health care and religion. Special attention is paid to manifestations of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book’s overall conclusion is that events of 2020 may compel Putin to ‘think again’ before he decides whether to run for office in 2024.

This book aspires to establish a dialogue among the studies of sustainable development, global environmental politics, comparative regionalism, and area studies of Eurasia. The chapters in this book reflect deep knowledge of the authors of the main trends in environmental politics at global, international, and national levels before the invasion in Ukraine in 2022. First, the book looks into the role and impact of international organizations such as the European Union (EU), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Arctic Council (AC,) and Global Forums on Climate Action on post-Communist states, but also the role of nation-states (e.g., Russia, Kazakhstan, and China). Second, the book explores relatively new international organizations, such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Eurasian Development Bank, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). How do the EAEU, EDB, and the SCO matter, if at all, in promoting an environmental agenda? How do the EU, EBRD, and the AC advance the environmental agenda across the post-Communist region? This book aspires to answer these questions and to shed more light on the challenges to sustainable development in post-Communist Europe, Central Asia, and Eurasia. With a new foreword and afterword, this book will appeal to students, scholars and researchers of political science, international relations, area-studies as well as practitioners and policymakers working in international organizations and dealing with challenges of sustainable development. The other chapters were originally published as a special issue of Problems of Post-Communism.

The Routledge Handbook of Chinese and Eurasian International Relations explores China’s relations with the Eurasian continent’s regions and countries in a multipolar era, providing an equal and balanced platform for scholars and practitioners from East, West, North, and South. This diversity enriches the contribution, giving it a dynamic ability to examine sources in different languages and cover a vast geography. Divided into ten parts, this handbook analyses the major powers in a Multipolar World Order; China’s political and economic interests in post-Soviet Eurasia, Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Arctic; and China's relations with the US, Russia, Eurasian Economic Union, NATO and other players. International technology and environmental experts consider the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative, along with other international economic and transport corridors, and examine China’s multilateral relations and Digital Silk Road and e-governance roles. The Routledge Handbook of Chinese and Eurasian International Relations also contains official documents detailing the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and several European and Asian states, making it an authoritative source on diplomatic affairs. This groundbreaking book will be of interest to policymakers, businessmen, scholars, and students of international relations, area studies, cybersecurity and digitalization, economics and the politics of international trade, security studies, foreign policy, global governance, international organizations, and environmental studies.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the wheat production developments in the Eurasian region and assesses the potential contribution of the region to domestic and international food security. In particular, the book covers policy and institutional developments of the agricultural sector in Eurasia with a special focus on the horizontal issues relevant to the current and future potential growth of the wheat production, such as land policy, credit and finance, privatization, farm restructuring, and environmental challenges. Global food security is a major societal concern in the light of an increasing population, which is projected to grow from around seven billion today to almost 10 billion in 2050. Two most likely ways to achieve the much needed food production growth are: expansion of land cultivation or increase in crop yields and total factor productivity. The only region with a significant amount of uncultivated arable land that is at the same time experiencing rising agricultural productivity is the “Eurasian wheat belt,” comprising of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the Central Asian countries (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kirgizstan). This makes the region a potential hotspot for driving the future growth of global agriculture. Such prospects require a detailed investigation of Eurasia’s future perspectives in terms of food production (with a focus on wheat) and its potential contribution to regional and global food security.

This book offers a comprehensive understanding of the Eurasian vision of Russia and China and their perception of each other’s Eurasian projects. Using the idea of “hierarchical order” as an analytical framework for the explanation and understanding of the burgeoning Sino-Russian relationship, the work provides different perspectives on the growing competition between the US and China, and Russia’s increasing reliance on China. The book will be of interest to scholars working on international relations with a particular focus on Russian and Chinese foreign policies. It will also appeal to those interested in concepts of regionalism and spheres of influence.

This insightful Companion provides an in-depth, systematic analysis of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), an economic union of several post-Soviet Eurasian states.

This handbook examines the study of international relations (IR) in Russia, giving a comprehensive analysis of historical, theoretic-conceptual, geographical, and institutional aspects. It identifies the place and role of Russia in global IR and discusses the factors that facilitate or impede the development of Russian IR studies. The contributors represent diverse Russian regions and IR schools and offer an overview of different intellectual traditions and key IR paradigms in the post-Soviet era. Filling the vacuum in international understanding of the Russian perspective on pivotal international issues, they demonstrate the continuity and change in Russia’s international policy course over the past three decades and explain how different foreign policy schools and concepts have affected Russian foreign policy making and the decision-making process. Providing a unique contribution to the discussion on non-Western IR theory, this handbook will appeal to scholars and students of international relations, Russian studies, world politics, and international studies.