Foreign Policies of Illiberal States

Foreign Policies of Illiberal States examines how the Russian war on Ukraine affects the functioning of different models of international society. Focusing on the two spheres of governance and security, it analyses the effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has significantly reframed many issues of global politics, including the feasibility of multilateralism under war conditions.

The academic debate around the issue as it pertains to the two countries is shaped by a number of arguments. Indonesia’s position is one of logic and the effective functioning of global organisations, symbolised by President Widodo’s peacemaking efforts in visits to Kyiv and Moscow. Russia's approach is overwhelmingly defined by security considerations, framing the military intervention against Ukraine as part of a broader confrontation with the Euro-Atlantic West. The hyper-securitisation of Ukraine by Russia was paralleled by efforts to de-securitise relations with the global South by shifting their fulcrum from the war to generalised and routinised socio-economic issues. Based on these positions, it could be said that a multi-order world is taking shape, where multilateralism is unlikely to be controlled only by the major powers.

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Andrey Makarychev is Professor of Regional Political Studies at Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu. He teaches courses on globalization, political systems in a post-Soviet space, visual politics, and biopolitics.

I Gede Wahyu Wicaksana is Professor of International Politics and Security Studies in the Department of International Relations Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Airlangga Surabaya, Indonesia. His research interests include Indonesian politics, security and foreign policy, ASEAN regionalism and international relations of great powers in the Indo-Pacific, and non-traditional security challenges in Southeast Asia, focusing on climate change, infectious disease and transnational terrorism.