Encountering Globalization Russian Style

Abstract

Analysing Russia’s response to globalization and how that response emerges from the Russian policymaking milieu is a brave enterprise — unenviable in some respects, foolhardy in others. It is twice burdened: first, because globalization itself, for all its common currency, is a fuzzy, contested, politically charged concept; second, because divining how policy is made in contemporary Russia ranks roughly with explaining the internal contours of dark matter. Still, great though these obstacles are, the enterprise deserves tackling. Even modest progress toward a clearer understanding of what one means by ‘Russia’s reaction to globalization’ helps to create a fuller picture of Russian foreign policy, and, in the process, may even shed light on the effects of globalization in an important concrete instance. Similarly, opening — if only by a crack — the black box of Russian decisionmaking will perhaps improve on the crude guesswork that too often distorts the policy of others when dealing with Russia.