Editor's IntroductionAuthor(s): John DoyleSource: Irish Studies in International Affairs, Vol. 19 (2008), pp. 1-2Published by: Royal Irish AcademyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25469829 .

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Editor's introduction

Russia's Global Perspective: Defining a New Relationship with Europe and America

John Doyle

Centre for International Studies, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University

This issue of Irish Studies in International Affairs takes as its primary theme the debate on the changing role of Russia in international affairs, and in particular its

relationship with Western Europe and the US. The volume draws on papers first

presented at the November 2007 annual conference of the Royal Irish Academy's Committee for the Study of International Affairs and from a separate lecture in April 2008 by Martti Ahtisaari, UN special envoy to Kosovo and former president of Finland, on the not unconnected topic of Kosovo. The nature of Russia's role in

global affairs has become even more important since the conference took place last year. The continuing rise in oil and gas prices has not only greatly strengthened Russia's economic position, but also raised real issues around energy security in

Europe. The August 2008 crisis in Georgia?by no means fully resolved at time of

writing?and the tensions over the US's decision to deploy a missile system into Poland have added to a fraught relationship and made progress on a wider

cooperative relationship more difficult. Ambassador Justin Harman, Ireland's ambassador to the Russian Federation,

opened the 2007 conference on behalf of then Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who had to travel abroad at short notice, and his paper sets out a clear Irish

perspective on the evolving relationship with Russia. The conference was also addressed by Ambassador Sergey Riabckov, but unfortunately the text of his presentation was not made available to include in the journal this year. The opening address is followed by a paper from Gunnar Wiegand, from the EU Commission, who addresses EU-Russian relations from the Commission's perspective. We also have two articles from Russian experts on international relations. Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the leading Moscow-based journal Russia in Global Affairs, examines interactions between Russian foreign and domestic politics, while Nadia Arbatova, from the Institute for World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) in the Russian Academy of Sciences, explores Russian-EU relations. Margot Light's contribution analyses the Russia-US axis. Finally in this thematic section, Stephen

White and Ian McAllister present a paper considering the choices facing Russia and its neighbours in terms of whether they identify more with the East or West, while

Kieran O'Reilly and No?lle Higgins explore the international legal issues around the role of Russia in the Pridnestrovian conflict. Their paper was written before the

Irish Studies in International Affairs. Vol. 19(2008), 1-2.

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2 Irish Studies in International Affairs

Georgia crisis erupted, but there are obvious parallels on the question of secession and the recognition of such de-facto autonomous regions under Russian protection.

We are honoured in this journal to be able to publish the address by Martti Ahtisaari, UN special envoy to Kosovo and former president of Finland, on the topic of Conflict resolution?the case of Kosovo. This address was delivered in Dublin in

April 2008 to a seminar organised by the Academy in the aftermath of Kosovo's declaration of independence, and it gives a good insight into the issues from one who was very close to events there. The wider issues raised by this type of intervention, their historical development and the idea of the 'Responsibility to protect' are

analysed in a contribution by Noel Dorr. This year's journal also brings together three new research pieces and a review

article on the theme of Irish neutrality, focusing on the period of World War II and the decade immediately afterwards. This is an area in which recent research has

brought a lot of new information to light on Ireland's low-profile cooperation with the Allied powers, which obviously raises issues about the nature of neutrality. Karen

Devine, in a comparative piece looking at the actions of other European neutrals, argues strongly that Ireland's actions were in keeping with other 'neutral' states, and were perhaps even closer to strict neutralist theory, and she rejects the thesis that

'neutrality is meaningless'. Conor O'Loughlin meanwhile explores the rationale for

neutrality from a theoretical perspective, seeking to use the case of Irish neutrality during World War II to add to the wider debate on what drives foreign policy. Andrew J. Riley and Timothy J. White have written an insightful essay on four new books covering this period, while Till Geiger continues the narrative by examining Irish neutrality and East-West trade in the first decade after the war.

More generally on Irish foreign policy, this issue contains papers by Christophe Guussen on the topic of Ireland, France and the question of Algeria at the United Nations, 1955-62; an analysis of Ireland's role in the WTO talks by Anna-Louise Hinds and Aoife O'Donoghue; and an article by Eileen Connolly, John Doyle and Fiona Dwyer reporting on a survey of attitudes to development cooperation conducted last year among university students in Ireland.

Finally in the review sections, Nicholas Rees and Helen O'Neill continue their

indispensable annual reviews of Ireland's foreign relations and Ireland's foreign aid, As ever, articles for next year's volume are always welcome.

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