No. 234: Russian Think Tanks and Foreign Policy-Making

Author(s): Igor Okunev, Alexander Graef
Series Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perović, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Volume: 234
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zürich; Research Centre for East European Studies (FSO), University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES), George Washington University; Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Zurich; German Association for East European Studies (DGO)
Publication Year: 2019

This edition examines the influence of think tanks on Russian foreign policy. Firstly, Igor Okunev outlines a number of obstacles that have impeded the development of independent foreign policy think tanks in Russia, and sets out a series of steps that could remedy the situation. Secondly, Alexander Graef assesses the evolution of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISI) and the controversy around its role in Russian foreign policy making during the mid-2010s, before noting that a change in leadership in 2017 has seen the think tank undergo another period of reform.

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