Premium
Frustrated Leadership: Russia's Economic Alternative to the West
Author(s) -
Johnson Juliet,
Köstem Seçkin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
global policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1758-5899
pISSN - 1758-5880
DOI - 10.1111/1758-5899.12301
Subject(s) - political economy , credibility , nationalism , neoliberalism (international relations) , politics , government (linguistics) , state (computer science) , political science , economic power , economic collapse , financial crisis , order (exchange) , economic nationalism , economic stability , power (physics) , economic system , economics , law , finance , linguistics , philosophy , physics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , keynesian economics , macroeconomics
The Russian government saw the 2008 global financial crisis as both a repudiation of western neoliberalism and as an ideal opportunity to promote its own international economic leadership. Russia's alternative vision encompasses multipolarity, financial nationalism and political illiberalism. These policies are symbiotic. The state uses its control over financial flows to build and maintain political and economic power at home as well as to project its influence abroad, all justified with a strong dose of great power nationalism positioning Russia as the Eurasian pole in an emerging multipolar world order. However, the Kremlin is doomed to frustration in its quest to assert international economic leadership. The Russian government has the ability to shake up the existing international order but lacks the credibility, stability, or economic clout to lead the creation of a new one. This has troubling implications for the future of international economic cooperation and reform, as Russia's frustrations have increasingly turned it in reactive and confrontational directions.