Essay from Mapping China's Strategic Space
Constructing Russia’s Strategic Space: Empire, Identity, and Geopolitics
In this essay from NBR’s project Mapping China’s Strategic Space, Jeffrey Mankoff argues that Russian attempts to maintain dominion over its neighbors rest on a perception of two-tiered sovereignty: while insisting on absolute sovereignty for itself (including the right to determine which foreign entities are allowed to operate on its soil), Russia considers the sovereignty of the states comprising its “near abroad” limited and conditional.
The essay is part of a section on Learning from History that presents a collection of historical case studies, used for comparative purposes, that examine how rising or great powers, including China, have in the past defined their strategic space and the factors that led them to consider expanding it beyond the strict delineations of their national territory.
Read the essay on the Mapping China’s Strategic Space website.
