Was doing some reading today and was going to write more about Venezuela. And then I stumbled across this doctrine- It’s very illuminating– It relates to Venezuela. And the BRICS. The author describes it as a “foundational document”, It clearly is!!
So a delay on Venezuela as we can all enlighten ourselves on this topic. Unless some of you are/were already aware of this?
Primakov Doctrine and Russia’s Multipolar World
Primakov Doctrine
The Primakov doctrine, named after Russia’s former Foreign and Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, sets the tone for Russia’s grand strategic objectives. The doctrine rejects several tropes and terms associated with Russian strategic thought, i.e., Hybrid Warfare and Gerasimov Doctrine. It rejects the notion of uni-polarity and implies that Russia should strive for a multipolar world managed by multiple powers to counterbalance the sole hegemony of the United States (US) and its so-called uni-polarity. It elucidates that, Russia, a vestige of the Soviet Union’s colossal, should enhance its influence in the post-Soviet space and resist the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) expansion. The Primakov doctrine calls for blending Russia’s hard and soft power to achieve its grand strategic objectives.
The Primakov doctrine has served as a foundational document for Russia’s foreign and defence policy for two decades. On the other hand, the Gerasimov Doctrine is purely a military effort to develop an operational concept for Russia’s future battlegrounds.
Russia’s former Foreign and Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov envisaged a concept for developing deep relations with China and India to counterbalance the Western influence, especially in the South Asia, Middle-East, and East Asia. He stressed Russia to enhance its presence in the former Soviet republics and promoting multilateralism.
During his term as the Foreign Minister of Russia from January 1996 till September 1998, he remained very active and strongly portrayed Russia’s vision in the post-Soviet world. He effectively opposed NATO’s expansion and convinced the Western policymakers to honour their promises and assurances. Yevgeny Primakov was instrumental in signing the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security on May 27, 1997, between Russia and NATO. The Founding Act had 4 main sections, and it was noted that “Other areas can be added by mutual agreement.”
Yevgeny Primakov was the main architect of the letter that was jointly written by Russia and China to the United Nations Secretary General to proclaim multipolarity.
Russia’s Multi-Polar World
The post-Soviet Russia is striving hard to bring multilateralism in to the world affairs. It is also struggling to turn the international system as multipolar. There is no doubt that the Primakov Doctrine was the very first conceptual instrument put forward by the Russian policymakers to offset the international structure. Yevgeny Primakov was well aware of the so-called US Uni-Polar Moment and the international fallout of such narratives. It is to be remembered here that Charles Krauthammer was among the Neo-Cons who celebrated the demise of the Soviet Union and trumpeted the victory of the US.
Conclusions
The Primakov Doctrine continues to serve as the foundational document to understand Russia’s contemporary foreign policy and its multilateral approach towards International Relations. Undoubtedly, Russia is a great power, and it has global concerns which require eloquent articulation of its foreign conduct. In hindsight, it is a fact that Russia and its policymakers have never opted for a unipolar world order.
Like all great powers, the Russian foreign policy is in tandem with its grand strategy. The Russian foreign policy is an instrument to achieve its grand strategic objectives, especially in the areas of ‘core national interests’ including Georgia, Ukraine, Arctic, Baltic States, and Eastern Europe. Having a multifaceted approach, the Russian foreign policy is centred on securing its strategic backyard and soft belly.
In January 1996 – September 1998 Primakov was Russia’s foreign minister, and in September 1998 – May 1999 led Russia’s Cabinet of Ministers.
“I believe that in the near future historians will coin a special term to describe Primakov’s role in politics. They may call it the Primakov Doctrine,” Lavrov said. “The moment he took over the Russian Foreign Ministry heralded a dramatic turn of Russia’s foreign policy. Russia left the path our Western partners had tried to make it follow after the breakup of the Soviet Union and embarked on a track of its own,” Lavrov said.
He recalled that Primakov was the first to have come out with an idea of enhancing cooperation in the trilateral format of Russia, India and China (RIC), which triggered the emergence of the BRICS group of nations. “The line of countries eager to join that structure as full-fledged members or as dialogue partners keeps getting longer,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov confirmed that over the years Primakov was Russia’s foreign minister the high-rise building in Smolenskaya Square underwent some fundamental changes. However, “inside the foreign minister’s room he avoided changing anything and his successor, Igor Ivanov, followed suit.”
But like most great ideas, Primakov’s was simple. First, Russia must end its subservient foreign policy guided by the US. Secondly, he emphasised the necessity of renewing old ties with India and fostering the newly discovered friendship with China.
Primakov argued that a Russia-India-China (RIC) troika in a multipolar world would allow some protection for free minded nations not allied to the West. He said the economic crisis in Russia had presented a rare convergence of conditions in the RIC.
“India, being different in many respects, enjoys a similar wealth of historical experience, often incomprehensible to westerners. The last couple of centuries have been a time of degradation and humiliation for these two great nations. In the eyes of the Chinese and the Indians, this was inextricably linked to the European/western expansion: colonialism and imperial dominance, including the imposition of a normative and economic servitude that still keeps then trapped in the semi-periphery even after the era colonialism.”
Russia found itself in a similar state. It was a time when the former planned economies were “ruthlessly looted by the victorious democracies under the guise of economic reforms or liberalisation. Russian social thinkers and historians noted similarities to the historic period of the destruction and pillage of China and India in the 19th and early 20th centuries”, writes Prof Li Xing writes in The BRICS and Beyond.
In 1998, Primakov visited India and pushed the proposal for creating the RIC strategic triangle. The new Russian leadership under Vladimir Putin reversed the Boris Yeltsin era drift in Russia-India ties, signed a major strategic partnership treaty and established the institution of annual summit meetings. Fourteen years after Russia had abandoned its old ally, Indians heard friendly voices emanating from Moscow. “India is number one,” Putin said, referring to India’s primacy in the subcontinent.
To be sure, the troika took a long time to reach a basic agreement. A key reason for RIC not getting early traction is the India-China border dispute, which has spun off an Asian version of the arms race between the two giants.
Secondly, in any trilateral partnership, the weakest member – in this case India – acquires prestige and power out of proportion to its actual strength. Beijing – which has traditionally viewed India as weak, divided, slavishly pro-West and above all as a potential strategic rival – clearly did not want to help India achieve that status.
It wasn’t until 2012 – coinciding with India successfully testing long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching China’s eastern seaboard – that RIC talks took off. Finally, the February 2015 meeting in Beijing imparted a fresh momentum, with China endorsing Russia’s move to include India in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Wider footprint
Large as its scope is, Primakov went beyond RIC. “The Primakov doctrine is designed primarily to dilute America’s strength and influence while increasing Russia’s influence and position in the Middle East and Eurasia,” writes policy analyst Ariel Cohen of the US-based Heritage Foundation in a report titled ‘The Primakov Doctrine: Russia’s Zero-Sum Game with the US’.
“Primakov has shown himself to be a master at exploiting anti-American sentiments of the Iranian Shiite establishment, the Arab nationalists, and even the French foreign policy elite. On visits to Japan and Latin American, Primakov promised Russia’s support for their efforts to secure permanent seats on UN Security Council.”
Lastly – Think BRICS substack
Tomorrow, if time permits, we’ll talk Venezuela
One reply on “The Primakov Doctrine- Well this sheds some light on things!”
so, the newest posts had been showing until this one
leaving a comment to see if that changes what shows on the home page?!