ABSTRACT
The Russian Far East (RFE) is a large and remote region with a harsh climate and a small, and diminishing, population. The region has a history, resource base, and a sense of distance from Moscow that often make its leaders and inhabitants less than compliant to central authority. The future of this vast region will be affected by the willingness of the Kremlin to negotiate deals with each of the components of the RFE (the ongoing federal bargaining), the economic situation in the Russian Federation as a whole, the situation with the military forces based in the RFE as well as the state of the entire Russian defense budget, the attitude of the inhabitants, and the skill of Far Eastern politicians.
