Abstract

Post-communist Russia’s early, Western-oriented diplomacy was replaced with a multilateral and more sophisticated approach in the late 1990s. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russian diplomacy became more assertive and confrontational. Diplomacy in the 2000s stressed multilateral approaches and network diplomacy; following Putin’s return to a third presidential term in 2012, Russian diplomacy became more coercive, relying increasingly on sanctions and threat of military force. The skill and professionalism of Russia’s diplomatic corps has enabled the Kremlin to exercise global influence beyond its economic or military capabilities. Russian diplomacy is currently transitioning away from the traditional high diplomacy of the Soviet era, and the diplomacy of weakness of the 1990s, toward a multifaceted and complex diplomacy balancing effective traditional mechanisms with newer, more nimble forms of diplomacy. It builds on pre-revolutionary and Soviet traditions, and is tightly controlled by President Putin, assisted by a small group of foreign policy elites. Russia’s professional diplomatic corps has played an important role in restoring the country to a position of prominence in world affairs, though a tendency to resort to coercive diplomacy and intimidation has heightened tensions with the West, and contributed to Russia’s isolation.