Multipolar World: Russia's New Foreign Policy?

(Baonghean.vn) - Moscow is working on a new concept for Russia's foreign policy, reflecting the ongoing shift to a multipolar world, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that this global trend poses many new challenges for regional powers.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Photo: Reuters.

“The international situation remains ambiguous and controversial, but we can see a general trend,” Lavrov said at a meeting of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy on April 9.

According to the foreign minister, we are moving from a world with only a single center of power to a world with a “multi-centered international structure.”

“We are seeking to reflect this trend in such fundamental doctrinal documents as Russia's national security strategy and foreign policy content,” he asserted.

The study of the revised foreign policy concept was carried out at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The transition to a polycentric structure should ideally be based on the interaction of leading power centers, with the goal of finding common solutions to global problems,” Lavrov explained.

However, he stressed that Moscow has no illusions that the transition to a multipolar world will be easy or quick. “Many countries share this vision, although, as in previous periods of history, there are no taken-for-granted rules when it comes to international affairs. There is no guarantee that positive trends will prevail,” the foreign minister said.

Even with the support of the international community, the change from a unipolar to a multipolar world will be an “unprecedentedly difficult” task, requiring “fundamental new boundaries of responsibility, intelligence and political will” from the participating actors, the Russian foreign minister said.

“However, given that the philosophy of equal partnership for the purpose of ensuring effective global governance encounters resistance from Western partners, the number of obstacles is likely to increase many times over,” he concluded.

The concept of foreign policy is a systematic description of the basic principles, priorities, goals and objectives of the Russian government. The latest version of the document was approved by Putin in February 2013, according to information from the Russian Foreign Ministry website.

Thu Giang

(According to Reuters, RT)