CFP: Russia Encounters Asia: Interests and Identities

Papers are invited for a panel to be convened at the ISA Annual Convention in New York, February 2009.

Panel organizers: Dr. Alexander Bukh, Tsukuba University, Japan,and Dr. Mikhail A. Molchanov, St. Thomas University, Canada.

Russia's identity as not only European, but also a Eurasian nation has always been subject to a debate. With the center of global politics and finance now moving to Asia, this debate acquires new significance from the perspective of changing regional and global orders. The panel aims to explore the relationship between Russia and Asia, broadly defined. Methodology,temporal span as well as the choice of empirical cases are open.

One set of research questions deals with Russia's evolving engagement with select Asian countries, such as China, India, or Japan, and regional organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the APEC. The overall strategic direction of Russia's foreign policy in North-East Asia or the lack thereof remains an underexplored issue which the panelists are invited to consider.

Another group of questions concerns the link between the state and national identities and interests, as reflected in these states' foreign policies. The discursive construction of the states' identities vis-à-vis regional "others" influences policy formulation and understanding of national priorities. We will therefore invite contributions that consider domestic sources of foreign policy in Russia and Eurasia, as well as the role of Russia-related imagery in foreign policies of such countries as Japan, China, India, Iran, or
Kazakhstan.

Please submit your abstract proposals (around 200 words), together with the name, institutional affiliation, present position and contact details to abukh70@gmail.com and molchan@stu.ca by the 23rd of May 2008.