Islands of Globalization

Globalization in Russia should be discussed among its domestic actors. In most cases of non-central governments' cooperation with foreign partners a number of institutions are engaged, each belonging to different social levels. Its effects are primarily dependent on the interaction of those forces and the resources involved. The paper argues that globalization is still underdeveloped in Russia, which is a big problem for the country as a whole: if Russia is unable to integrate with the world and the islands of globalization are overrun by the ocean, this would keep the country isolated and underdeveloped for many decades to come. The paper presented focuses on three types of gaps that exist for globalization of the regions. The first one divides Russia and the West in terms of their attitudes towards living in a global world. The second set of gaps divides Russia's regions that are not equal actors in the international arena. Thirdly, there are controversies in the group of four domestic actors, each of which has its own foreign policy perspectives. After that the paper turns to the issue of obstacles and opportunities for globalization of Russia's regions.