Building Hegemonic Order Russia’s Way: Chasing International But Not Regional Multipolity

As Russia challenges the US-led Global Order, Moscow had to create its own version of regional order. From the ashes of the Soviet Union, Moscow had to rebuild its relations with each of the former Soviet states. To do so, Russia had to overcome both mistrust and power asymmetry. While some of the states have chosen not to cooperate with Russia, other states have chosen to cooperate with Russia to create a regional architecture and order. Many argue that Russia is a coercive power in the region that forces other states to act in only its own interests. While recognizing Russia’s power Michael O. Slobodchikoff maintains that it is not able to simply force states to behave as it wants them to. Instead, Russia must use bilateral and multilateral cooperation for both Russia as the hegemon and the weaker powers in the region. Russia has been successful at creating regional order. While it has worked to achieve global multipolarity, it has built regional unipolarity, putting its global strategy at odds with its regional goals.

Michael O. Slobodchikoff is distinguished political scientist and expert on U.S.-Russia relations, international diplomacy, and alliance politics.