Russia and Euro-Atlantic: Prospects for Future Relations
The author focuses on the relationship between Russia and the Western community. What is Russia most leaning towards: the preferential relations with the rising China or a long term, strategic alliance with the Euro Atlantic states - the U.S. and the EU? Or, perhaps, it is in Russia's interests to maintain a policy of equidistance between the poles of power? The proposed article is talking about all the aforementioned issues. Relations between Russia and the West are considered comprehensively, at different levels of interaction. In this context, in view of the priorities of contemporary politics of the Russian leadership, an important place in the analysis is attached to the problems of asymmetry of the intellectual and technological capabilities of modern Russia as opposed to Euro-Atlantic states. This asymmetry is interpreted not only as the inequality of the material and technical conditions, but also as a gap in the level of social organization which can increase the existing backwardness of our country. The author assumes that the recent financial crisis, developments in the Arab world and international security environment controversies can help not only the rapprochement between Russia and Euro-Atlantic area, reducing the resulting gap between them, but in general can contribute to stabilizing the international political situation.