The Modernisation Agenda in Russian Foreign Policy

Abstract

This article looks at the concept of modernisation in Russian foreign policy and how modernisation issues have been included in Russian foreign policy discourse and practice. The article focuses on the importance attributed in Russian foreign policy to the modernisation agenda in relations with strategic partners, such as the USA and China, so as to position the European Union (EU)–Russia partnership in this broader framework. By looking at the strategic documents guiding these relations, the article addresses Russia's relations with these external actors in view of the modernisation agenda, assessing whether the EU–Russia Partnership for Modernisation might constitute an effective mechanism for improving EU–Russia relations in a complex international context. Issues of geographical proximity and cultural affinity, which have traditionally underpinned EU–Russia relations, might be in the process of being overcome by more pragmatic notions, as the focus on modernisation (as opposed to democratisation) seems to suggest. The article argues that as a result of these shifts in context, the ability of the EU to remain relevant for Russian foreign policy in this regard might be limited.

Key words:

• Modernisation
• Russia
• USA
• China
• innovation
• liberalisation

Notes

¹ The BRICS countries include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

² See http://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/rs/usrussiabilat/index.htm

³ Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a Russian oligarch who emerged after the privatisation processes of the 1990s in Russia, having acquired and developed the oil company Yukos, which by 2003 became Russia's largest. After his involvement in anti-Kremlin politics, Mr Khodorkovsky was convicted of fraud in 2003 and sentenced to nine years in a Siberian jail and Yukos's assets were acquired in a fire sale by the state-owned Rosneft. This raised issues about the independence of the judiciary in Putin's Russia and the security of investors in such a politicised environment.

⁴ US–Russia total trade volume for 2013 was 38,222 million USD, of which 11,136 million USD were US exports to Russia and 27,086 million USD were imports from Russia (US Department of Commerce, 2013), whereas China–Russia total trade volume for 2011 was of 78,031 million USD, comprising 32,020 million USD of exports to China and 46,011 million USD imports from China (IMF, 2011), with several important deals under way.

⁵ See the news reports at Russia Today (2010) and Business Recorder (2010).