Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Professor Tulokhonov A.K.

Transboundary cooperation of Russia in the West and East in the context of globalization.

The collapse of the Soviet Union fundamentally changed the political situation in its old borders. Nearly a third of area of Russia reduced, and on its borders instead of the union republics appeared eight new states, with independent foreign and domestic policy. On the territory of the former Warsaw Pact countries, as well as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, NATO troops there who very closely approached to the main industrial centers of Russia.

Thus, the foreign policy of Russia differentiated according to the new geography. From the Soviet Union was leaving only the border with Finland, Norway and Poland to the west, and Mongolia, China and North Korea to the east. At present, the common interests of the Customs Union are saved only with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Rather complicated relations persist with Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Today, Russia is the only country in the world, which has at its borders with the countries of the neighborhood, representing all four major world religions: Christianity, Catholicism, Islam and Buddhism.

Adding these factors, we can see that on the western borders there are certain political barriers in the face of the former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries included in NATO. Against this background of economic recession of the Western countries poses particular problems for foreign economic relations with Europe as a whole. With many political opponents on the western borders, Russia is forced to turn to the east, where over the past decade with its participation created new authoritative international organizations as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with different status included the largest Asian powers, including China, the Central Asian republics, India, Pakistan, Mongolia and others. Huge financial resources are concentrated in the BRICS countries composed of Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Another negative factor was the decline in European consumption of Russian gas, which is forced on the world market cheaper shale gas in the United States and the Middle East. As a result, dramatically reduced the volume of gas transfer through traditional and new pipelines as the "Blue Stream", "South Stream", "Nord Stream". They were built in the hope of developing new fields in Jamal, the shelf of the northern seas. Reduction in consumer and accordingly "Gazprom" income casts doubt on the prospects of these fields.

In these circumstances, the political leadership must change the vector of the economic interests of Russia from the West to the East, which shifted the world's major financial flows. On the possibilities of the Chinese economy can be gauged from the fact that in 2012 China has almost equaled the production of cars to the United States. Given that the primary export earnings are still made from the sale of hydrocarbons, Russia is forced to focus on the growing volume of energy consumption in China and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Figure ....). However, there is increasing competition to Russian exports due to an increase in the supply of oil and gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, countries of the Middle East and Africa, and in the future of the United States.

Such action should, above all, reduce the outflow of people from the eastern regions of the country and create the necessary economic base with a competitive rate of economic development of border areas of China. The main condition for solving this problem is to create the necessary transport infrastructure linking the industrial centers of the European part of the country to the Far East. In considering this issue it should be noted that the Russian classics, including Lomonosov and Stolypin, noted the need for accelerated development of the Far East coast and the Arctic Ocean. In a warming climate the Northern Sea Route is the shortest and cheapest way water delivery cargo from Pacific Rim to Europe.

For Europe, of particular interest is the development of the shortest rail and highways coming from South-East Asia to Europe and following the route of the Great Tea and Silk Road. For this purpose is necessary to upgrade the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur Mainline. Significant prospect is the construction of new highways through Kazakhstan to Europe and the Middle East.

The development of the Far East coast has to some extent correspond to the likeness of the economic development of the USA, whose power is on two "pillars" of industrial clusters of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the country. Moreover, the huge extent of the Russian-Chinese border involves the use of so-called "Canadian" mechanism of economic development based on proximity to the more powerful economic potential of the United States. According to this model, it is possible to the Asian Russia use mutually beneficial cooperation or feedback effect with the industrial centers of the North-Eastern China.

To a certain extent, the Russian economy has to repeat the experience of the first five-year plans of the Soviet Union on a new level, then at the earliest in off-road conditions and the lack of qualified personnel have been built almost all the industrial centers of Siberia and the Far East, such as the Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Norilsk, Kuzbass, the largest aircraft factories in Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Arsenyev. It is for such a scheme developed economy of modern China.

In Russia, unfortunately, after the construction of the BAM was a long "pause", which gave way to the construction of oil and gas pipelines that, does not solve strategic problems. Moreover, against the background of the "hydrocarbon revolution", initiated by the United States is becoming more real drop in energy prices, and with it the economic crisis for Russia. The danger of this is triggered by the implementation of high-cost "image building" activities such APEC summit, Universiade in Kazan and the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the FIFA World Cup and other similar analogues that are not related to a specific area of the economy.

As you know, following the example of Greece, recently conducted the Olympics, Poland and Ukraine have become the venue for the European football championship, other than the direct costs there are many financial problems with the operation of sports facilities. Moreover, many experts argue that it is the Olympic Games sparked the beginning of the financial crisis the Greek economy.

Thus, it can be argued that in the short term, Russia must show maximum political and economic activities on the eastern borders. In this case, special attention should be paid to the decentralization of government with the strengthening of regional and municipal component, which may ultimately reduce the outflow of people from the Asian part of the country. For this purpose, it is advisable to use the experience of creating a "Euro-regions" working effectively in the European Union as well as on the western borders of Russia and especially in Karelia, collaborating with regional and municipal agencies in Finland.

The key to effective transboundary cooperation of any state is an economic interest of the border regions. Meanwhile, in the Siberian Federal District, the foreign trade of more than two times lower than the average Russian index, and in the border areas adjacent to the borders of Mongolia and China, these figures are less than 6 times.

Of particular importance in matters of transboundary cooperation are problems of rational water management in transboundary river basins. In Europe, there are similar mechanisms in the basins of the rivers Rhine and Danube, which with varying degrees of effectiveness solve conflicts in water use. In the Asian part of Russia such mechanisms are only formed. Therefore, in the basins of the Ural, Irtysh, Amur Rivers there are a lot of conflicts with the regulation of water regime and the ecological condition of the watershed territory.

In the end, Russia in the context of globalization must turn its foreign policy interests to

the East. Stolypin talked about this 100 years ago, and so made the Russian coat of arms,

facing both west and east.