Russia in Greater Mediterranean: New Pacific Eurasian Transition

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Abstract

The relevance of the issues raised in the article is related to the active return of Russia to the Mediterranean region, as well as the international political transformations taking place in it. The purpose of the article is to identify the historical foundations, current state and strategic prospects of Russia’s presence and international influence in the Greater Mediterranean region. The article is based on the methodology of critical geopolitics, historical and comparative approaches, which critically analyze the geopolitical structures of the region, built in the interests of various regional and extra-regional political forces. The historical material of the ancient, medieval, new and modern periods in the history of the macro-region is used, including the poorly studied times of the Mongol presence on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Scientific works on the history, geography and international relations in the region, written in the 18th - 19th centuries, as well as modern scientific information on the trends of technological, infrastructural and political development of the Mediterranean region are introduced into scientific circulation. An important element of the article is the thesis about the special role of Russia in the Pacific-European (Eurasian) transit. From the author’s point of view, it includes not only the full implementation of Russia’s transport and logistics potential in the macro-region, but also the transfer of modern technologies, as well as the promotion of the formation of sustainable political regimes. As a result, a conclusion is made about the deep historical foundations of Russia’s presence and influence in the region, its strategic prospects are justified, and the main directions of our country’s international activities in the Mediterranean region are highlighted. An important conclusion of the article is the thesis about the need for a multilateral balanced approach to solving macro-regional problems.

About the authors

Ivan Alexandrovich Chikharev

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: ichikharev@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8573-9271

PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor, Department of Geopolitics, Faculty of Global Processes

Moscow, Russian Federation

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Copyright (c) 2021 Chikharev I.A.

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