Geopolitics by Saul Bernard Cohen

Author:Saul Bernard Cohen [Cohen, Saul Bernard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2014-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Figure 8.1. Heartlandic Russia and Periphery: Major Geopolitical Features

This factor is reinforced by the massive nuclear arsenal, which is being modernized at the same time that it is reduced in accordance with US-Russian nuclear arms agreements. An analysis of Russia’s geopolitical features identifies the inherent strength that enabled it to recover so quickly from the decade of political and social instability and economic disarray that followed the breakup of the USSR. Regaining its status as a major power that controls the heartlandic center enables Russia to pressure in the heartlandic periphery, especially in Syria, Iran, and Ukraine, thus wielding global influence once more.

Historic Core

Russia’s historic core—the area in which the Russian state originated—is generally considered to be the medieval principality of Kievan Rus, although Novgorod also may lay claim to this status. The origins of Russia may be traced to the arrival of the Varangians, the Scandinavian traders and warriors led by Rurik, who founded his dynasty in Novgorod in 862 CE. Located in northwestern Russia, Novgorod was situated on the Volkhov River, on the major trade route that led from the Baltic to the headwaters of the Volga, then south and southeast to the Black and Caspian Seas. Novgorod’s location eventually enabled it to become one of the four chief centers of the Hanseatic League, along with London, Bruges, and Bergen.

Rurik’s successor, Oleg, transferred the capital to Kiev, the center of the Kievan Rus state, in 879. However, Novgorod continued to be the main center for foreign trade and ultimately (from the early twelfth to the fifteenth centuries) was capital of all of northern Russia to the Urals.

Vladimir defeated his brother, Oleg, in 880 to become grand duke of Kiev. He then conquered distant Slavic tribes and waged successful wars with Lithuanians, Bulgars, and Byzantines to expand his kingdom. For Russians, the defining moment of their nationhood took place in 988–89, when Vladimir converted to Christianity and made the Greek Orthodox Church the religion of his people, linking secular rule and the church.

Kiev was chosen to become the new seat of the Varangian dynasty because its location along the Dnieper River was better sited for the Scandinavian-Black Sea-Constantinople trade. As the capital of Kievan Rus, Kiev became a leading European commercial and cultural center. Surrounded by the fertile crop- and grasslands of southern Russia, the city had a more prosperous agricultural area than Novgorod, which was located within the cool, marshy, and thin-soiled glaciated section of northern Russia.

The name “Russ” initially described the Varangians, who then applied it to the Eastern Slavs who had settled around Kiev and gave their name to the new state—Kievan Rus. Kiev became known to the Russians as the “mother of cities,” even after political power shifted to Moscow. Kiev remained the capital until 1169, during which time Eastern Orthodox Christianity consolidated its position among the Slavs and Byzantine culture predominated. It was during this period that the Russian Orthodox Church became an essential part of Russian nationalism and Church Slavonic became the liturgical and literary language of the Russians.

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