2025 JFIPP Research Fellow - Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva

Project Summary

This project investigates how contemporary Russian official discourse frames the Indo-Pacific as a regional and security concept, and how such framing influences Russia’s foreign policy orientation toward the region and the Quad states, particularly Australia, Japan, and the United States. While much scholarly attention has focused on the Indo-Pacific strategies of the U.S. and its allies, limited research has examined how contemporary Russia interprets and responds to the region’s dynamics. While Russia officially rejects the use of the “Indo-Pacific” concept, it still considers itself a power in the region. Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific has assumed increased strategic significance for Russia, prompting heightened political and economic engagement with the region (Likhachev 2024). Russia’s “Far East” and “Turn to the East” policies (Rozman and Christoffersen 2023; McKinnon 2025) provide both geopolitical rationale and discursive grounding for its growing presence in Indo-Pacific affairs. Although Russia has traditionally oriented itself toward Eurasia, recent strategic visions such as "Greater Eurasia" signal a shift toward co-navigating the region alongside China. This raises the critical question of whether Russia’s Indo-Pacific policy similarly reflects a strategic accommodation of Chinese regional leadership.

Drawing on discourse analysis, the project will examine Russian official statements, policy documents, speeches, and media narratives on the Indo-Pacific from February 2022 to the present. It aims to unpack how Russia constructs the Indo-Pacific and how such construction legitimizes its engagement in the region. This project will enable Quad members, in particular Australia, Japan, and the U.S., to better understand Russia’s official stance on the Indo-Pacific and how this may translate into policy actions toward both the region and individual Quad members. The research findings will offer important insights to help these actors avoid misinterpretation or miscalculation of Russia’s behavior in the Indo-Pacific.