Eurasianism and the Concept of Central Caucaso-Asia

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Eldar Ismailov and Vladimer Papava
interpretation is. 33 The war on Georgia 34 is the most telling event where,
along with Vladimir Putin, President Medvedev should also be considered
the main culprit. 35 These actions are entirely consistent with the expansionist
views of the contemporary Eurasianists. 36 But it would be much more correct
to say that while welcoming the Eurasianist ideas, Putin cannot be
considered a leader who is guided exclusively by Eurasianist arguments. 37
The reason for this is the belief that Eurasianism is not the only monolithic
33 See, for example, Leon Aron, “Putin’s Cold War. Confrontation with America
Satisfies a Domestic Agenda,” The Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2007,
; Paul Kennedy,
“Worried about Putin's Russia?: Read on,” International Herald, August 20, 2007,
; Michael McFaul,
“New Russia, New Threat. Working with the West is no Longer the Goal as the
Kremlin Flexes its Muscle and Rethinks its Role in the World,” Los Angeles Times,
September 2, 2007, ;
Jay Winik, “Vladimir
the Great? Putin's Inspiration Is Much Older Than the Cold War,” The Washington
Post, September 2, 2007, .
34 For example, Felix K. Chang, “Russia Resurgent: An Initial Look at Russian Military
Performance in Georgia,” Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Notes, August 13, 2008,
; Cornell and
Starr, eds., The Guns of August 2008; Svante E. Cornell, Johanna Popjanevski, and
Niklas Nilsson, Russia’s War in Georgia: Causes and Implications for Georgia and the
World, Policy Paper (Washington, D.C. and Stockholm: Central Asia-Caucasus
Institute & Silk Road Studies Program Policy Paper, August 2008),
;
Pavel Felgengauer, “It Was No Spontaneous, But Planned War,” Novaya Gazeta,
August 18, 2008, ; Yuliia Latynina,
“200 km tankov. O rossiysko-gruzinskoy voyne” [200 km of Tanks. On the Russian-
Georgian War], Ezhednevniy zhurnal [Weekly Journal], November 19, 2008, Part 1,
, Part 2, ,
Part 3, .
35 For example, Ian Traynor, “Putin's Second War can have Only One Victor,” The
Guardian, August 11, 2008, .
36 In contrast to these interpretations of contemporary Russian policy, some naïve (at
best) Western experts regard the expansionist, neo-imperialist threat from Russia as
one of the myths about this country (David Foglesong, Gordon M. Hahn, “Ten Myths
About Russia Understanding and Dealing with Russia’s Complexity and Ambiguity,”
Centro Argentino de Estudios Internacionales (2002), pp. 11-12, ).
37 Dmitry Shlapentokh, “Russia’s Foreign Policy and Eurasianism,” Eurasia Insight,
Eurasianet, February 9, 2005, .