The International Politics of Russia and the Successor States

Book excerpt: This textbook examines the external relations of the fifteen new states which emerged from the ashes of the Soviet Union in 1991. Mark Webber examines the consequences of the Soviet collapse and the emergence of a new system of international relations embracing Russia and the other former Soviet republics. The author explores both relations between the new states themselves and between these states and the wider world. He pinpoints the daunting challenges facing the new states: the invention of foreign policy orientations; the management of the Red Army’s material legacy, including nuclear weapons; the resolution of regional conflicts; and the need for economic revival. Two key themes emerge: the reassertion of national identities, and the special position of Russia, which has assumed to some extent the rights and the obligations of the Soviet Union on the world stage whilst having to tackle the chaos of local wars and internal economic collapse.