The international implications of Russia's New Foreign Policy Concept.

Valdir da Silva Bezerra, Sputnik

 Russia recently launched a New Concept of Foreign Policy, whose political implications will have important consequences for the country's role in international relations.

 First, Russia is once again presenting itself as a power center seeking to oppose the unipolar world model advocated by the United States – a model that has the tacit approval of its European allies.

 In this way, Moscow will aim to dismantle the foundations of American "unilateralism" in the world, in favor of a redistribution of global power (both political and economic) to new power centers and new regional centers of influence.

 At the same time, it became clear from the document that Moscow remains open to dialogue with the West, demonstrating its intention not to definitively close the doors to fairer bilateral cooperation.

 With this, Russia aims to collaborate with Western countries as an "equal among peers," meaning having its interests and concerns taken into account by Europeans and Americans, a point that, it is worth emphasizing, has always been present in Putin's political discourse in the 2000s.

 Secondly, Russia emphasizes the importance of preserving its historical traditions and its unique (millennial) civilization based on a union of distinct cultures and peoples who have resided in its territory for centuries.

 The country's role, in this context, is that of initiating a new project of civilizational integration in Eurasia, with aspirations to become an independent center of power and influence in international relations. This contrasts the "collectivism" prevalent in the Russian social and developmental spectrum with the "individualistic" and materialistic project of the West as a model for organizing society.

 As a result, Russia will continue to be the main obstacle to the Western project of homogenizing globalization, serving as a model state so that other countries can also defend their history, values, and traditions in the face of the deconstruction agenda spearheaded primarily by the United States.

 This results in Moscow's rapprochement with the Islamic world, which, like Russia, does not share the cultural and political agenda promoted by the West towards the rest of the world. In practice, this means putting an end to yet another crusade by the Americans and (as could not be otherwise) by European countries in their new "civilizing mission" in the world, a practice that contains within itself clear signs of patronage of societies considered – so to speak – "less advanced".

 When the political imperialism of Western countries spread throughout the world between the 16th and 19th centuries, there was, in addition to economic reasons, the intention precisely to "civilize" other peoples considered inferior and backward. Today, however, Russia demonstrates the limits of this new project, and it does so in conjunction with other important civilizations – or why not say civilization-states – such as China and India, for example.

 Regarding these two points, the New Concept of Russian Foreign Policy places special emphasis on them, demonstrating the consolidation of the country's "Asian turn" in the context of increasing isolation from the West.

 No wonder, after all, the idea of ​​defending Russia's national interests through deeper cooperation with Asian powers such as China and India had already been advocated in the late 1990s by the eminent diplomat Yevgeny Primakov (Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998 and Russian Prime Minister between 1998 and 1999).

 Through establishing alliances with China and India, Russia intends to continue the process of consolidating a multipolar world that reflects the civilizational plurality and value systems in international relations. It is no coincidence that President Putin himself recognized Primakov as "one of the authors of the concept of a multipolar world" back in the 1990s, at a time when American dominance seemed truly unshakeable.

 Furthermore, Russia promises a pragmatic and "de-ideologized" approach to its rapprochement with Latin American countries, also based on strengthening a partnership for the defense of "multipolarity." In this respect, we see a difference compared to Moscow's relationship with the countries of the region during the Cold War, which occurred within the context of the expansion of the Soviet socialist model to various parts of the globe.

 In the current plan, Russia intends to act without a predetermined ideological bias, but still establish closer contacts with Latin America not only for commercial purposes but also to achieve the political objective of strengthening ties with the Global South, working together against the hegemonic aspirations of the West in the system.

 Here, it is also necessary to highlight the role of the African continent, which harbors quite justified distrust of Western countries due to its troubled historical and colonial past. The interventionist policies of Europeans, especially during the 19th century, led many African countries to become the stage for political resentments that persist to this day.

 Furthermore, the continent still vividly remembers the aid offered by Moscow during the Cold War for its decolonization and independence processes from the former colonial powers, which provides Russia with significant political capital in its relationship with African leaders.

 Therefore, this (re)approachment of Russia with Africa and Latin America (suggested precisely in its new Concept of Foreign Policy) aims to expand Moscow's foreign policy to areas where its presence had previously become limited, especially after the Soviet collapse.

 Certainly, the future holds the promise of new alliances and partnerships that prove Russia is not, and never has been, truly isolated (as some in the West would have us believe), and confirm Moscow's active role in building a more diverse and multipolar world.