Publication

This paper looks at Russia's domestic and foreign policy response to the international financial crisis. The author first gives a brief overview of the origins of the financial crisis and what it has meant for Russia, and briefly outlines Russia’s relations with the US and EU pre-crisis. Second, he examines Russia’s domestic response to the crisis. Third, he examines Russia’s foreign-policy response to the crisis. Finally, he argues that the financial crisis has effectively invalidated the widely held multipolar thesis underlying its foreign-policy aspirations and suggests an alternate theory about how, given what we know now, Russia’s domestic and foreign policy strategies might play out.