Putin’s Russia and Southeast Asia: The Kremlin’s Pivot to Asia and the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War

Dr Ian Storey will discuss his new book on Russia’s relations with Southeast Asia. The first major study of Russia and Southeast Asia since the end of the Cold War, it traces the dramatic shifts in Moscow’s relations with the region since President Vladimir Putin took power in 2000. Dr Storey assesses the legacy of the Soviet Union, charts the evolution of Putin’s foreign policy and identifies the drivers behind the Kremlin’s ‘Turn to the East’ or Asia pivot. His book also examines Russia’s dialogue partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the development of Moscow’s political, economic and military ties with each of the 11 regional states over the past 25 years. A large part of the book is devoted to Southeast Asia’s responses to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At the end of the talk Dr Storey will also provide an update of Russia-Southeast Asia relations in 2025 and how the region views the on-going Russia-Ukraine War.

Dr Ian Storey is a Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. He specializes in regional security issues, focusing on Southeast Asia’s relations with the major powers and maritime security, especially the South China Sea dispute. Since joining ISEAS in 2007 he has been the editor of the ISEAS academic journal Contemporary Southeast Asia. Prior to ISEAS, Ian held academic positions at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii and at Deakin University, Australia. Ian received his PhD from the City University of Hong Kong, his Master’s degree from the International University of Japan and his BA (Hons) from the University of Hull, England. He is the author of Putin’s Russia and Southeast Asia: The Kremlin’s Pivot to Asia and the Impact of the Russia-Ukraine War (2025) and Southeast Asia and the Rise of China: The Search for Security (2011)