JIIA -The Japan Institute of International Affairs-

Thirty years have passed since the end of the Cold War. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the global status of the Russian Federation has remained one of the major issues in the post- Cold War world order. On the whole, however, we must say that the West has not succeeded in establishing amicable relations with Russia. Leaving aside the question of whether we can describe the 2014 Ukrainian crisis as part of a new Cold War, it goes without saying that Russia is one of the factors that has destabilized the current liberal international order. While strengthening its assertiveness under the Putin administration, Russia has a weak economic base and a peculiar presence in the international community, due in part to its “quasi-alliance” relationship with the emerging superpower China.