The Russian President Website Tuesday or on July 15 released the full text of the new Foreign Policy Concept for the Russian Federation approved by President Dmitry Medvedev. The new concept, or the framework document, sets out the content, principles and basic directions of Russia's foreign policy.
Public opinions here hold that the new Foreign Policy Concept, released by President Dmitry Medvedev after more than two months in office, not only indicates the Russiam foreign policy retains its continuity and foresight and but a clear and distinct picture of its movement, which is of global concern, has been presented vividly and faithfully to the international community.
According to the new foreign policy concept signed by President Medvedev, his country pursues an open, foreseeable and pragmatic foreign policy. The main objective is to ensure national security, defend and enhance its sovereignty and territorial integrity, raise its international prestige and create favorable external conditions for its modernization. Moreover, the new concept is aimed to set up a just and democratic global process, to resolve global problems collectively by relying on the rule of international law, to form friendly relations with neighboring countries and to eliminate or prevent the emergence of tension or conflicts.
Meanwhile, the new concept notes, the strategy for the unilateral move jeopardizes the stability of the global situation, stir up the tensions and arms races, sharpen contradictions between nations, and create ethnical and religious disputes. It also poses security threat to other countries and is bound to undermine the basis of the international law because of averting the UN Security Council when resorting to the use of force, and this leads to the extension of regional conflicts.
With regard to external relations, the new concept particularly emphasizes prioritizing the growth of its bilateral or multilateral ties with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), actively promoting the peaceful settlement of any conflict in the CIS region and forging ties of friendship with each CIS member nation on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, mutual respects and taking into account each other's interest.
Russia's priority in its Asia policy is to develop its friendly relations with China and India and, on the basis of an identical principled attitude on key world issues, to step up Russia-China strategic partnership of coordination in all realms and take this partnership as a basic component part of the regional and global stability.
Russia has a huge potential for mutually-beneficial cooperation with the United States, which is crucial to the global strategic stability and the world situation, and Russia hopes to use its existing work mechanism with the U.S. more effectively.
Russia's Europe policy is primarily designed to set up an open and democratic collective cooperative system for the entire region, and to achieve the genuine European unity without a demarcation line via ways to ensure the Russia-EU-U.S. coordination on an equal footing; Russia holds a negative attitude towards the eastern enlargement of the EU and the approaching of its military establishments towards the Russian border, as such practice undermines the equality and security norms and give rise to a new boundary in Europe.
Analysts here also deem the now foreign policy concept as a measure of vital importance taken to cope with new challenges in compliance with volatile changes in the global situation. In his 8-year tenure of office, former President Vlandia Putin established Russia on the basis of upgrading its economic competitiveness in the international community. So Russia has maintained a robust growth momentum for its national economy with a rapid pick-up in its national strength, bolstering its independence in the economy decisions-making process and giving rise to a good resonance in its external relations.
Former President Vladimir Putin delivered an impassioned address at the 43rd annual Security Conference in Munich on February 10, 2007. In that speech, he blasted the U.S. for its policies of unilateralism, the Use of Force and the deployment of an anti-missile shield system in eastern Europe and he also criticized the EU for the eastern enlargement. This is regarded as an important hallmark that Russia is regaining confidence on the international arena. In early days of Vladimir Putin's presidency, however, the Russian foreign policy concept could hardly match changes in the global situation and Russia's international status at that time.
In recent years, Russia has underscored the assumption of its obligation on the world stage as a major power to tally with its own growing status and strength, and this is also identical to the goal of containing the US policies of unilateralism. During his meeting with representatives of Russian envoys residing overseas on Tuesday or July 15th, Dmitry Medvedev said both Russia and the U.S. were held responsible for defending global security and that his country was dissatisfied with US moves to undermine the strategic security basis, according to public opinions. The U.S. deployment of an anti-missile system in eastern Europe could only made things "more complex" and so Russia will have to take measures in response to it.
Hence, the principle that "the national interest comes first" can not only find expressions in Russia's new foreign policy concept, but the principle is also to be implemented in measures to respond to threats the nation is facing.
By People's Daily Online and its author is Yu Hongjian, a PD resident correspondent in Russia
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