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This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Asia Studies on 01 Jun 2018, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2018.1465529. ; © 2018 University of Glasgow During the last two decades, one of the cornerstones of the foreign policy of the European Union (EU) has been the development of a strong presence in its neighbourhood. The 2003 Security Strategy and the recent 2016 Global Strategy highlighted the need to show that the EU can play a major role in the international arena by first establishing a strong presence in the neighbourhood and proving the union's effectiveness in the region. In this context, the aim of the essay is to explore the way the EU's 'ideal self' is constructed and perceived in the post-Soviet space.

This article focuses on the literature developed in the last few years on Russia's foreign policy by exploring six books which can be thought as representative: two general books on Russian foreign policy, one that focuses on security and intervention, another on Russia's soft power and influence in the post-Soviet space, and two others on Russia's relationship with the West. There is an underlying idea in the six books that Russian foreign policy has been deeply marked by Putin's leadership. Russia's foreign policy has been continuously evolving since 2000 towards assertiveness, through which Putin has aimed to regain Russia's lost status of being a great power. In the last few years and especially since Putin came to power for the third time, there has been a proliferation of books on Russian foreign policy. The value of the six books lies in the way they chart the path towards assertiveness in Putin's quest to put Russia again on the map as a great power.Allison R (2013) Russia, the West, and Military Intervention. Oxford: Oxford University Press.De Haas M (2011) Russia's Foreign Security Policy in the 21st Century: Putin, Medvedev and Beyond. Abingdon: Routledge.Gvosdev NK and Marsh C (2013) Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors, and Sectors. Los Angeles, CA: CQ Press.Leichtova M (2014) Misunderstanding Russia: Russian Foreign Policy and the West. Farnham, MD: Ashgate.Sherr J (2013) Hard Diplomacy and Soft Coercion: Russia's Influence Abroad. London: Royal Institute for International Affairs/Chatham House.Tsygankov AP (2012) Russia and the West from Alexander to Putin: Honor in International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.