Primakov Doctrine

   Foreign relations doctrine. In the latter half of the Yeltsin administration, Russia turned away from the Atlanticist foreign policy that had existed under Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev. Named after the politician and diplomat Yevgeny Primakov, the three principal planks of this new orientation included 1) integrating Russia into the world economy; 2) establishing a multipolar world; and 3) counteracting key United States–led initiatives including North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) enlargement, the Iraqi economic embargo, and military intervention in Kosovo. Both as foreign minister and later as prime minister, Primakov expanded Russian ties to East Asia and the Middle East to counterbalance American dominance of world politics. The inherent weakness of Russia under Boris Yeltsin’s administration ultimately served to isolate Russia, and precluded the successful outcome of Primakov’s primary goal of returning the country to great-power status. However, Primakov’s embrace of a multidirectional foreign policy and opposition to unipolarity are seen as strongly influencing the Putin Doctrine.