Introduction

This book is about the development of Russia’s relations to its closest geographical, political, economic and social neighbours – the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries – under Putin’s presidency. The perspective adopted here on these relations is thus not only Russian, it is ‘Putinist’ in the sense that it deals with President Putin’s basic foreign policy strategies towards the CIS countries. The book takes its starting point in the idea of a separate Russia-led regional security complex and largely leaves out the dynamics of this (Russia-led) regional security complex in its relations to the three larger security complexes that surround Russia geographically – the European, the Asian and the Middle Eastern security complexes. The penetration of ‘external’ powers, notably the United States and China, into the Russia-led security complex is dealt with only to the extent that it influences Russian policies towards CIS countries or the inner dynamics of the Russia-led security complex. The theoretical focus is on regional security complex theory and draws heavily upon leading theorists in the field, especially Buzan (1991), Lake and Morgan (1997) and Buzan and Waever (2003).