The Russian Federation's Discursive Transformation in Central Asia: From Euro-Atlanticism to a Normalized Modern Great Power (1991-2016)

The Russian Federation has been among the most significant actors in Central Asia during the past two and a half decades – what some have termed as a “New Great Game” in the area. In the fast evolving post-Cold War environment, Moscow has been very active in both bilateral and multilateral (CIS, CSTO, SCO, and EEU) arenas. The crux of the Russian activism has been geared to preserve the status quo to the extent possible, keep the newly independent republics under Moscow's foreign and defense policies, revive and strengthen the previous hegemonic status, and finally, confront the objectives and strategies of rival powers in Central Asia, most notably North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), European Union (EU) and the United States. The Russian foreign policy, while pursuing these overarching objectives, has been impacted – to varying degrees – by developments in the post-Soviet transitional society at home as well as by regional and international developments. The present article looks into the dynamism – and transformation - of the Russian foreign policy towards Central Asia through the analysis of major discourses in the Russian external strategy since 1991.