Maxine David and Ruth Deyermond – Russia in the Liberal world order

Abstract

Since the turn of the century, the nature of world order and Russia’s position in it has been one of the most contested aspects of Russia’s relations with the EU and the wider West. In the period after the United States’ ‘unipolar moment’, and especially in the context of questions relating to China’s rise, the Russian government has increasingly contested some of the values and norms fundamental to the liberal world order. This has shaped Russia’s relations with the European Union (EU) in significant ways, and so this chapter centres the EU–Russia relationship in discussions about that order. It elaborates on the liberal world order itself – its origins, nature and champions – before discussing Russia’s place within it. Political and analytical debates about liberal interventionism are considered for what they reveal about Russia’s contestation of liberal norms and where the EU and Russia sit in relation to each other. The chapter concludes with a discussion of whether Russia seeks to build a new world order and, if so, of what type.