Russia in Global Affairs

In the current situation, a multi-vector policy—smart balancing between three centers (EU-NATO, Russia, and China)—may open up opportunities for Serbia to exert political agency on the international stage in the near term.

Very different ideas of how the world should be governed constitute one of the misunderstandings which underlie current East-West tensions. If Russia and the West wish to improve relations, they must reach a common interpretation of the rules.

Almost all foreign policy concepts inherited from the bipolar and unipolar eras are either obsolete or false. Russia must stop dragging in the wake of the old foreign policy thought, which is obviously used more and more selfishly for protecting the waning positions of the West.

Since it is unlikely that universalist claims of Western liberalism will evaporate any time soon, they will continue to produce a rationale for counter-ideological alignments.

Hypothetically, Russia and the U.S. may stop escalating their war of ideas if their material interests do not cross. This would be possible if they divide their zones of influence and respect them.

There has again emerged an area of instability and armed conflict (Ukraine) on Poland’s borders. Its relations with neighbors that are vital for its national security and economic development (Russia, Germany, and the European Union as a whole) are ruined again.

Within the framework of “civilizational realism” existing contradictions between Russia and the West could be solved by reaching an agreement with the “civilizational leaders” of the Euro-Atlantic region to create a demilitarized buffer zone made up of limitrophe Eastern European states.

The transformation of Europe after the end of the Cold War, which promised a peaceful and prosperous Europe without dividing lines, ended with a reconfiguration of military and political alliances with clear-cut boundaries and a reassessment of allies and potential adversaries.

The Far East as a meeting point of three key regions?Eurasia, Pacific Asia, and the Arctic?opens up prospects for overcoming a false dilemma of traditional division into continental and maritime states. Russia’s dual geopolitical nature allows it to move along both tracks at the same time.