BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

RUSSIA’S REVIVAL IN GLOBAL AFFAIRS: WILL THERE BE NEW CONFLICTS WITH THE WEST?

Author: Mahbubur Rashid Bhuiyan

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2017v38n2a5

ABSTRACT

Russia, nowadays, vigorously displays its strength in global affairs, which it could not do after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev made this possible by recovering the country’s former standing and equitable place in the world arena. The country’s reemergence has resulted in growing confrontations with the West. The Russo-Georgian War and the Ukraine Crisis deeply worsened Russia-West relations. There are other differences on, for instance, Syrian war, expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Venezuela. The United States’ presidential election 2016 has also allegations of Russian meddling. Russia is now trying to form new alliances at regional and global levels, including expansion of relations with depressed Western allies to counterbalance Western preponderance. Albeit Russia and West both suffer from economic slump, their belligerent rhetoric and military postures go on where neither is willing to give up. Russian reassertion and Russia-West antagonism sometimes create fear of full-scale conflicts. This article examines the reemergence of post-USSR Russia under Putin and Medvedev, mutual perceptions of and interactions between Russia and the West, Russia’s role as a global player in recent times, and if Russia’s resurgence will create new conflicts. It is a qualitative research, drawing from secondary sources. It mainly argues that there are reasons both for and against conflict, but neither Russia nor the West can endure a real war.