THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A MULTIPOLAR WORLD FOR RUSSIA’S GREAT POWER ACTIVISM

It is essential to address the question as to why Russia promotes a multipolar world order. This is because, Russia, as a great power, is an influential state that has the capability to affect international political dynamics. This is manifest in Russia’s forceful pursuit of great power activism in different parts of the world. Therefore, it is important to explain Russia’s world vision in relation to its defense of multipolarity in order to get a clear insight into global political dynamics. As discussed in this work, although Russia’s defense of a multipolar order is based on the premise that this order would amount to a fair world order, multipolarity is significant for Russia due mainly to functional reasons. In this respect, despite the emphasis Russia places on idealist themes in presenting its vision of a multipolar world, it is essential to understand that multipolarity is an important prerequisite for Russia to maximize its interests. One can find useful hints to support this claim by looking at the way in which Russia, in the burgeoning multipolar system, pursues an active foreign policy to advance its interests in various regions. This is apparent in Russia’s attempts to bolster its political, economic and military/defense ties with various countries in regions such as the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific. The establishment of a multipolar order, also known as Post-West World Order, is an important precondition for Russia to realize its great power potential on a global scale. Through an analysis of Russia’s foreign policy in the post-Cold War period, this work will illustrate how Russia came to embrace a world vision based on multipolarity