The Post-soviet Area in the Space of Meanings and Ambiguous Trajectories of Evolution

The article presents a large-format context of ambiguous processes in the postSoviet space. In understanding its current state, one should take into account its historical genesis and the different duration of including of various lands within a single state. The geostrategic perspective of consideration presupposes the recognition of the importance of civilizational coordinates, cultural identifications and economic parameters of this area, which absorbed significantly dissimilar civilizational formations with dissimilar historical and political experience and level of economic development. While considering current processes in the post-Soviet space, it is reasonable to assume the fundamental position of all six editions of the Concept of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation adopted under three presidents of the Russian Federation: development of cooperation with neighboring countries is the primary priority of the Russian Federation. This space, both in the past and the present, is highly heterogeneous entity in all dimensions, including significant diversification and even polarization of foreign policy aspirations. The heterogeneity of the near abroad is so significant that its most common definition remains its identification through denial. Nevertheless, despite the cultural, civilizational and political-cultural specifics, the diversification of the internal political design and foreign policy attitudes of the countries that were previously part of the USSR, the latter still retain similarities in a number of important parameters, and geographically the area closest to Russia is of great importance to it. In the face of intense competition from non-regional political actors for dominance in the region, Russia still has numerous competitive advantages. In foreign policy, the common denominator of the postSoviet republics is the multi-vector nature of international orientations, which means the desire to balance between different centers of power, without unequivocally adhering to any of them. In the coming years, the post-Soviet space will continue to be an arena of intense competition for resources, territories, footholds, and assets.

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