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“Russian World”: What is the new doctrine of Vladimir Putin

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The “humanitarian policy” doctrine, described in 31 pages, has seen the light of day as the war in Ukraine has now entered its seventh month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today endorsed a new foreign policy doctrine based on the concept of “Russian Cosmos,” an ideology used by conservatives in his country to justify interventions abroad in support of the Russian-speaking population.

The 31-page “humanitarian policy” doctrine, released as the war in Ukraine now enters its seventh month, says Russia must protect and promote the traditions and ideals of the “Russian world”. .

Although presented as a moderate strategy, it incorporates ideas about politics and religion that some hardliners have used to justify the Russian military’s seizure of Ukrainian territory and support for pro-Russian breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

“The Russian Federation provides support to its compatriots living abroad in defending their rights, safeguarding their interests and preserving their Russian cultural identity,” it states. He notes that Russia’s ties with Russian-speaking populations abroad have strengthened its image on the international stage as “a democratic country striving to create a multipolar world.”

For years Putin has been trying to highlight the “tragic fate” – according to him – of about 25 million members of the Russian minority who found themselves far from the “mother” homeland, in independent states, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a fact which he has described as a “geopolitical disaster”.

Russia still considers the former Soviet space, from the Baltic to Central Asia, as its legitimate sphere of influence. Diametrically opposed, of course, is the position of the vast majority of the former Soviet republics and the West.

The new foreign policy doctrine calls for Russia to strengthen its cooperation with the Slavic nations, China and India, as well as strengthen its ties with the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

It also says Moscow should further deepen its ties with Abkhazia and Ossetia — two breakaway provinces of Georgia that Moscow recognized as independent after the 2008 war — as well as with its self-proclaimed “People’s Democracies” Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.

RES-EMP

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