South East Asia – In the Priorities of Russian Policy “Pivot to Asia”

Abstract

The foreign policy course “Turn to Asia”, taken by Russia in the early 2000s, was not accompanied, however, by the expansion of interaction with the countries of South East Asia. Despite creating a certain foundation for the development of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, its potential is far from being fully explored. The presence of objective factors hampered its expansion and limited the active involvement of Russia in regional integration processes. The article assesses the prospects for the development of relations with Southeast Asian countries in the context of Russia’s strategic and economic interests in the region and the emerging conditions for their implementation. The authors note that the region has begun to acquire strategic importance for Russia, firstly, for economic reasons, given the dynamics of its growth and the possibility of its involvement in Russian integration projects,secondly, for geopolitical reasons, based on an assessment of its contribution to the formation of a security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, the principles of which are generally consistent with Russia’s strategic interests, which are realized within the framework of diplomatic and militarypoliticalrapprochement with the countries of South East Asia. The article notes that in building their relations with them, Russia proceeds from the fact that its more active participation in regional affairs may become a factor hindering the establishment of hegemony by one of the great powers in the region, which generally meets the interests of the Southeast Asian countries themselves. At the same time, the authors come to the conclusion that in search of a force capable of ensuring stability in the region, the choice of Southeast Asian countries is unlikely to stop only on Russia, whose real level of political influence in the region is still low. As for economic cooperation Russia with the countries of South East Asia, in recent years, the interaction between them in the framework of bilateral relations has strengthened, primarily in trade. Russia has a positive balance in trade with the countries of the region. However, investment cooperation between them is small in scope and does not play a significant role in the economies of the counterparty countries. The article provides a detailed analysis of the problems that complicate Russia’s economic cooperation with the countries of South East Asia and offers recommendations for solving them, taking into account the specifics of Russian business and the particularities of the local market development. The authors come to the conclusion that the success of Russia’s economic relations with the countries of South East Asia will largely depend on whether we recognize them as equally important partners as China or India. No political steps taken by Russia in South East Asia will lead to a strengthening of its position in the region, if they are not accompanied by its economic expansion.

Keywords

• russia
• countries of south- east asia
• asia pacific region
• security
• strategic interests
• economic cooperation