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Modern Russian Borderlands: Problems of Study and Some Conclusions

  • CHALLENGES AND POLICY OF SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT OF POST-SOVIET RUSSIA
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Abstract

A comparative analysis has been carried out on the demographic and socioeconomic dynamics of the border regions of Russia and neighboring countries, and the nature, mechanisms, and institutions of cross-border cooperation. The theoretical basis of the article is the concept of bordering, according to which border studies focus on the constant process of change in the regime, functions, and social significance of borders as a result of shifts in the international situation and bilateral relations, the exchange rate and global prices, the daily activities of political institutions, and interaction practices. Most border regions on both sides of borders are characterized by low per capita GRP with respect to the average values for their countries. A noticeable asymmetry in the ratio of exports and imports has developed in the trade of Russia’s border regions with its neighbors, especially in border areas with China due to its narrow specialization in raw materials export. The intensity of cross-border ties depends not so much on proximity to the border, but on the position of a population center in the regional center–periphery system. At the same time, the relationship between the “transparency” of the border and intensity of cross-border contacts is far from straightforward. They are governed not only by economic and other material reasons, but also by subjective factors at the national and regional levels. Attitudes towards neighbors are influenced by stereotypes of public opinion. During the entire post-Soviet period, Russian political discourse on relations with neighboring countries focused on the balance between the conditional Western and Eastern (Eurasian) vector, but it has undergone fundamental changes. Since the 2010s, Eurasian integration has appeared as one of the forms of Russian–Western rivalry. The redistribution of contact and barrier functions between borders with post-Soviet countries began to be interpreted as a result of their choice between association with the EU and participation in Eurasian integration projects.

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Funding

The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation project “Effects and Functions of Borders in the Spatial Organization of Russian Society: Country, Region, Municipality”, no. 22-17-00263. The analysis of borders’ influence on the center-periphery patterns and the perception by residents of the borderlands of neighboring countries was prepared with partial support of the state assignment of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences AAAA-A19-119022190170-1 (FMGE-2019-0008).

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  1. Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    V. A. Kolosov

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Correspondence to V. A. Kolosov.

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Kolosov, V.A. Modern Russian Borderlands: Problems of Study and Some Conclusions. Reg. Res. Russ. 13, 58–64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970522700502

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