Russia’s Return to Africa

Russia’s Return to Africa



In response to both the demands of its historic “Muscovite” political culture and the setbacks in the once-promising relations with the West, Russia finds itself seeking to construct a global system within which its “great power” status is recognized. To this end, the Kremlin can no longer ignore Africa states, not only because of their numbers but because their natural resource wealth complements that held by Russia. While the web of strategic access and other ties that the Russians have been reconstituting and expanding across the continent does not necessarily presage a return to the Cold War era’s often-tragic zero-sum competition, other international actors heavily invested there no longer can ignore Moscow’s resurgent interest.