Review: Miscellaneous: The New Russian Diplomacy
| Author | Anne Leahy |
| Published date | 01 March 2003 |
| Date | 01 March 2003 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200305800128 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
that
sometimes
in
the
practice
of
diplomacy,
a
higher morality
is
the
better
long-term
realism,
a
lesson
that
the
contemporary
architects
of
American
foreign
policy
would
be
wise
to
keep
in
mind.
Toby
Zanin/Toronto
THE
NEW
RUSSIAN
DIPLOMACY
Igor
S.
Ivanov
Washington
DC
and
Moscow:
Brookings
Institution
Press,
2002,
x,
203pp,
us$22.95,
ISBN
0-8157-4498-6
Over
the
past
year,
Russia's
foreign
policy
has
been
remarkable. Much
has
been
written
about
the
personal
role
played by
President
Vladimir
Putin
and
his
'turn'
to
the
West. Politicians
now
argue
about
the
scope
for
integration with
Europe
rather
than
whether
Russia
is
Eurasian
or
European.
Foreign
Minister
Igor
Ivanov,
the
author
of
this
book,
recently
stated
that
the
most
significant
foreign
policy
initiative in
2002
was
Moscow's
relationship
with
the
North
Atlantic
Treaty
Organization.
What
then
do
we
really
know
about
Russian
diplomacy?
Until
now,
not
much
information
was
available.
Igor
Ivanov
has
been
a
career
diplomat
for
thirty
years
and
foreign
minister
since
1998.
His
book documents
the
process
and
the historical
references
that
guided
Russian
diplomats
from
1991
as
they
re-crafted
their
country's
foreign
policy.
In his
words,
foreign
policy
formulation
is
a
'complex
synthesis
of
the
Soviet
legacy,
resurrected
Imperial[Russian
diplomatic
traditions
and
completely
new
approaches
dictated
by
the
fundamen-
tal
changes
that
had
occurred
in
Russia
and
the world.'
Henry
Kissinger,
in
the
foreword,
notes
that
the
discussion
of
the historical
continuity
in
Russia's
foreign
policy
is
one
of
the most
interesting
aspects
of
the
book.
Indeed, Minister
Ivanov's
aim
is
to
dispel
'negative
assessments'
of
Russia
attributed
to
George
Kennan
and
American
Sovietology
that
still
mislead Americans
about
Russia's
intentions.
In
an
otherwise
traditional
rendering
of
foreign
policy
by
region
and
theme,
Ivanov's
Overview
and
his
section
on
the
United
States
are
well
worth
reading
to
understand
how much
Russia
wants to
be
considered
an equal
partner
to
the
United
States.
It
is
also
instructive
to
see
how
Russian
diplomacy
has
adapted
some
Soviet
policies,
particularly
the
promotion
of
the primacy
of
the
United
Nations
and
strong
multilat-
eral
institutions
to
serve
today's
purposes
of
preventing
the
dominance
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter2002-2003
237
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