Russia as an Aspiring Great Power in East Asia

Paradorn Rangsimaporn examines the range and nature of Russian foreign policy elite perceptions of East Asia and of Russia's role and relations with this region from Yeltsin to Putin. He argues that Russia aspires to being a great power in East Asia and tries to achieve this by leveraging its position as a Eurasian country, with vast territories in East Asia, by integrating its economy into the region and by projecting its influence there through economic assets, primarily arms and energy, and through careful positioning of itself in a multipolar East Asia, where the balance of power is complex and changing. This great-power aim also became more clearly defined and more actively and pragmatically pursued under Putin.