This memo outlines and interprets Russia's new, self-styled "active policy" in the Caspian Sea launched under Vladimir Putin to promote and defend Russia's regional interests. This "active policy" takes shape against the background of the policy in effect from 1998 to 2000 (predictably termed "passive"). In this previous period Russian policymakers, for all their newfound pragmatic principles, lacked a consistent strategy for advancing Russian interests on a day-to-day basis. Instead there was a tendency to offer sweeping solutions to all Caspian problems or–especially during Yeltsin's last year–to simply hunker down and await a new opportunity: a new Russian leader, a new American president, or a break in the complex system of Caspian geopolitics and energy. […]
Memo #:
162
Series:
1
PDF:
PDF URL:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0162.pdf
