Globalization at the Edges of Insecurity

Russia's borderland regions are the foci of a unique set of opportunities and challenges that together produce highly complex and often contradictory outcomes. On the one hand, the regions' proximity to external markets and sources of foreign direct investment boosts their bargaining power with the central government and enables them to benefit from special legislation on trans-border cooperation and increases the economic opportunities available to them. On the other hand, their borderland location increases the likelihood of ethnic tension resulting from crossborder migration and the arrival of refugees from former Soviet republics, trafficking in human beings and contraband, xenophobia resulting from perceptions of relative economic deprivation vis-à-vis more economically dynamic neighboring states, and outstanding territorial disputes and possible irredentist claims. The regions flanking Russia's external border are therefore fertile ground for an investigation into the impact of political insecurity on the development of local economies within the Russian Federation.