Pax Russica: Russia's Monroe Doctrine

By Mark Smith
18 Jun 2004

It should be clear that a strong consensus exists in the Russian foreign and defence policy community that views the ‘near abroad’, or ‘post-Soviet geo-political space’, as a Russian sphere of influence. Even the more liberal and pro-western members of this community are uncomfortable about the break up of the Soviet Union and the growth of political economic and military influence by states from the ‘far abroad’. This is compounded by the sudden ‘loss’ of the Soviet position in Eastern Europe in 1989. Moscow’s foreign policy-makers have to accept the ‘loss’ of the Soviet position in Eastern Europe. They currently lack sufficient foreign policy instruments to reverse this state of affairs, and are unlikely to be able to do so for many years to come, if ever.

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