The "Invariability" And "Alternation" Of Russian Foreign Policy In The New Era

Russian foreign policy in the new era contains "invariability" and "alternation".Among them,"invariability" refers to the inheritance of the diplomatic tradition of Russia,and "alternation" refers to the adjustment made in the new era when the domestic and international environment is changing.Russian diplomatic tradition includes the "great-power" diplomacy under the influence of "Messiah",the "expansionist" diplomacy under the effect of security concept,and the balanced diplomacy under the guidance of "balance of power".Meanwhile,the changes of domestic and foreign environment in the new era include domestic political turmoil,economic changes,and the release of neighboring environment.Under the influence of the Russian diplomatic tradition,the "invariability" of Russian foreign policy in the new era includes the pursuit of the status of great power under international rules,the emphasis on the neighborhood diplomacy with the CIS as the core,and the vigilance against the external threats especially the terrorism.However,affected by the changes in domestic and foreign situations,the "alternation" of Russian foreign policy in the new era includes accelerating the "Pivot to the East" policy,attaching the importance of the role of "soft power" and gradually getting tougher towards the west.However,the "invariability" and "alteration" of Russian foreign policy in the new era have a certain logic.There has some "alteration" in the "invariability",and vice versa.In order to consolidate its status as a great power,Russia is more inclined to participate in or dominate international organizations to enhance its international influence.What's more,to ensure security of its periphery,Russia tries to expand the scope of periphery in the new era.Faced with the increasing cross-border liquidity from external threats in the new era,Russia has chosen to respond to these problems with multilateral cooperation.Although Russia is accelerating its "Pivot to the East" policy in the new era,"Western First" is still dominant in Russia.And Russia's emphasis on the role of "soft power" does not mean that it will give up using force.In this paper,the Path Dependence Theory will be used as the framework to discuss the above viewpoints.Here are some conclusion after the analysis,Russia's foreign policy in the new era is still influenced by traditional factors and has not broken through the path dependence on diplomatic tradition.In addition,its "invariability" is still under the influence of traditional factors and constantly self-reinforcing.Russia's foreign policy and China-Russia relations may be uncertain in the future.The research of the "invariability" and "alternation" of Russia's foreign policy in the new era and their logic is conducive to more rational understanding of Russia's foreign policy and the future trend of the relations between Russia and China.