... of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council (SVOP) and Academic Director at the Valdai Discussion Club, you have a keen eye for trends in Russian and global politics, in expertise and in the academic community. Do you feel the presence of that very “pivot to the East” that is talked so much about? When, in your opinion, has this process started?
Yes, it’s quite there. It started around the same time as the idea of a “pivot to the East” was officially announced, i.e. in the early 2010s, and ...
... through the creation, jointly with China, India and other Asia partners, of a ‘Greater Eurasia’ that Russia can acquire the expanded negotiating positions and potential it would need for its eventual dialogue with Brussels.
The idea of a Russian ‘pivot to the East’ — as it were — obviously has a long history. It was tried in different historical conditions and in various forms over the course of at least the last century and a half. The results of these efforts were inconsistent. On the ...
... for the time being. Having realized that, Russia mentally turned from a European province into the center of rising Eurasia, into a conservative yet forward-looking Atlantic-Pacific power, which, I hope, will not have any firm global commitments.
A Pivot to the East
Relative conservatism of Russia’s foreign policy did not prevent Moscow from starting a pivot to the East, belated but resolute. For four centuries Russia looked at its Asian territories as a burden it had to protect and develop ...
On May 10, 2016 RIAC expert Anton Tsvetov delivered a lecture “Russian Pivot to the East: Born in Europe?”
The event took place at the venue of the Körber Foundation (Koerber Stiftung) in Hamburg.
In his lecture, Anton Tsvetov revealed the accomplishments and challenges of Russia’s eastern policy, as well ...