(President Fyodorov discussing diplomatic matters with his closest advisors)
President Fyodorov's diplomatic tour across Asia, including states like China, India and Japan, marked a new opening on the international scene in Asia. Since the dissolution of the USSR, Russia has focused almost entirely on internal problems and conflicts in the near abroad. The dissolution of the USSR created a power vacuum in the region, which was quickly used by regional powers including China, India, Turkey or Iran, as well as the European Union and the United States, which wanted to use temporary Russian geopolitical weakness to gain influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Nevertheless, the flexible and effective foreign policy of President Fyodorov secured Russian political and economic control over the Caucasus and Central Asia, though not a direct control like under the Soviet Union. Furthermore, in between 1992 and 1994, Russia had no strategic vision and no defined strategic goals in Asia. Nevertheless, economic and political stabilization in Russia allowed the Russian government to pursue its interests on the Asian continent more actively. Nonetheless, there was ongoing debate in Russia about where the focus of Russia's foreign policy should be: Europe or Asia?
Euratlantists together with Prime Minister Yavlinsky, favored close political and economic relations between Russia and the West. Yavlinsky argued that cooperation with the West would provide Russia with increased security and prosperity. On the other hand,
Eurasians, including President Fyodorov, perceived Russia as a bridge between Europe and Asia. Supporters of this political idea began to promote the concept of the Russian world and Russian civilization, which belonged neither to Europe nor Asia.
(General Secretary Jiang Zemin supported closer cooperation between Russia and China)
The most important visits by Fyodorov were made to the two most powerful countries in Asia: India and China. Starting with India, President Fyodorov signed
the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and India, which began a new phase of economic, political and military cooperation between both states, including nuclear, mining, farming, and military-technical cooperation. Additionally, Russia agreed to sell the technology of cryogenic engines to India. During his visit to Beijing, President Fyodorov achieved another success, as
the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation was signed. The treaty would serve as a basis for peaceful relations, economic cooperation, and diplomatic and geopolitical reliance. Article 9 of the treaty stated, "When a situation arises in which one of the contracting parties deems that peace is being threatened and undermined, its security interests are involved, or it is confronted with the threat of aggression, the contracting parties shall immediately hold contacts and consultations in order to eliminate such threats." Other articles (A7 and A16) point to increasing military cooperation, including the sharing of "military know-how" (A16), namely, Chinese access to Russian military technology. The treaty also encompassed a mutual, cooperative approach to environmental technology regulations and energy conservation, as well as international finance and trade. The document affirms Russia's stand on Taiwan as "an inalienable part of China" (A5) and highlights the commitment to ensure the "national unity and territorial integrity" of the two countries (A4). The treaty included a no-first-use clause for the two nations against each other. Additionally, a number of trade deals on Russia's export of coal, oil and gas to China were signed. In the meantime, President Fyodorov after hearing advice from Prime Minister Yavlinsky, rejected offers from Ukrainian oligarchs and focused on cooperation with new Ukrainian Prime Minister Petro Symonenko.
(Russian high school in the 90s)
The main points of reform in the Russian education system included:
- free elementary and high school education until the age of 16;
- introduction of mandatory English language courses;
- education funding is set at 6% of GDP, starting in 1996;
- introduction of vocational training studies and university access courses;
- Studies in Russia would be covered by the state;
- all schools would have computer science classes starting in 7th grade that would go all the way to the end of the University, ensuring that the Russian population is properly educated in computing and is ready for the coming of a digital age;
- all elementary and high schools would be obligated to have clubs and off-school activities to promote student initiatives and collegial behavior, including school events and interschool competitions and events, charity events, etc., and most importantly, school uniforms would be mandatory for students through the elementary and high school years but not in the university;
- after courses in high school and universities (depending on the student's decision to go further, or otherwise), there would be employment opportunities directly from school where various companies and businesses would get resumes of various students (grades, performances, good behavior) and would send them employment offers so that students could choose which company they would want to work for after graduation. After school, practical schooling would be continued by these companies and businesses, after which students or current workers would be obligated to work for those companies for a certain number of years.
After the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991,
25 million ethnic Russians found themselves living outside the Russian Federation, becoming a new Russian diaspora. The status and situation of Russians living abroad became a topic of political debate within Russia. Conservative and right-wing political groups accused the government of inactivity and started to pose as defenders of the national rights of the Russian diaspora. The largest ethnic Russian diasporas existed in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Latvia. As the newly independent states started to recreate their national identities, their Russian and Russian-speaking populations found themselves in a completely new political reality. The collapse of the Soviet Union left Russia needing to prove itself a power in the international arena. Russians responded to the subsequent period of economic and political instability with nationalistic sentiment and national integration movements as they sought to construct a new identity for their country. Russia’s predilection for domestic centralization led to the development of a new foreign policy bearing political, military, and economic aspects regarding the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Right-wing Russian political groups viewed this new policy as a means to reverse political trends and reinstall the unitary state in Russia and its near abroad. Their political programs held imperial tones, and they believed the Russian diaspora held an important role in implementing their policies. Right-wing groups in Russia aimed to revive the Russian Empire and were convinced they could benefit from the Russian diaspora like Hitler benefited from the German population in Gdańsk and in the Sudetenland. Moreover, the Red-Brown Alliance also accepted former territories of the Soviet Union as natural borders of Russia, and the statists asserted that Russia should assume a dominant role among other former Soviet states.
As the Eurasianist school began to gain power and influence over Russian foreign policy, the Russian diaspora was beginning to be seen as a factor that could both help Russia exercise influence over the newly founded states in its near abroad and contribute to the development of its national identity. The change in Russian foreign policy from the breakup of the Soviet Union until the end of 1992 was remarkable, as Russia defined its priorities in foreign politics with the foreign policy doctrine of the Russian Federation and turned its eye to the near abroad. The near abroad policy that emphasized Russia’s great power and its influence on the region was formulated as the first foreign policy concept of Russia by Andrei Kozyrev. This doctrine, called
“the Fyodorov Doctrine” or “the Russian Monroe Doctrine,” described Russia’s privileged interests and its special role in the former Soviet republics. It also legitimized Russia’s military intervention in the region if necessary to protect its own interests.
The near abroad doctrine affected the Russian diaspora by addressing termination of conflicts in Russia’s neighborhood, the protection and human rights of regional Russian-speaking minorities, and the declaration of Russia’s vital interests in the former Soviet territories. Russia sought closer relations and greater influence with the members of the CIS in economic, political, and military fields. The Fyodorov government widened the concept of Russian nation to include the twenty-five million ethnic Russians in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Therefore, Russian doctrine gave the Russian diaspora great importance between 1992 and 1994, since it gave Russia the asserted right to legitimately intervene in the domestic affairs of the newly independent states in the interests of ethnic Russians. In an attempt to protect the rights of the Russian minorities in its near abroad, Russia offered dual nationality to those people.
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org