Friendliness and unfriendliness of countries of the world as a factor in the modern geopolitical position of Russia and Siberia

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Abstract

Since 2022 the concept of the “unfriendly countries” has been officially enshrined in the Russian political discourse, though dividing countries into friends and foes has deep roots. The article views friendliness and unfriendliness of the geopolitical actors and their mutual distance as key characteristics of the geopolitical space. A new approach to understanding the category of “geopolitical position” is presented, based not on the principle of neighborhood of subjects, but on geographical remoteness. Based on both qualitative and quantitative data, the research uses a multistep scale to evaluate countries’ friendliness and unfriendliness towards Russia in 2016 and 2024. The method of economic distances is used to measure and grafically represent the distance of the actors varying in friendliness and unfriendliness from Russia, Siberia and the Siberian federal district. The research proves that due to its remoteness Siberia has a more beneficial location in comparison with Russia as a whole, because only friendly geopolitical subjects can be found within 2500 km from Siberia, unfriendly geopolitical actors moved even farther from it, whereas the most friendly actors (primarily Eurasian states) remained as close as in 2016 and became even friendlier towards Russia.

About the authors

A. N. Fartyshev

V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS; Irkutsk State University

Email: fartyshev.an@gmail.com
Irkutsk, Russia; Irkutsk, Russia

S. V. Pisarenko

V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS; Leningrad State University

Irkutsk, Russia; Pushkin, Russia

L. S. Zhirnova

V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography SB RAS; Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia (MGIMO University)

Irkutsk, Russia; Moscow, Russia

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