In the political language of Russia, the near abroad (Russian: ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye|italic=yes) refers to the newly independent republics (other than Russia itself) which emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. William Safire describes the term as the "most significant diplomatic coinage since the popularization of detente" that entered into English language in early 1992.
It was noted that the Russian foreign minister Andrey Kozyrev used the term in the early 1990s, referring to central and eastern Europe,[1] however the usage of the expression is attested before Kozyrev became minister, giving translators a hard time. Early attempts to translate the Russian term include "the concept of 'abroad close at hand,'" "nearby foreign lands," and "countries not far abroad." As a result of the acceptance of the term "near abroad," the word "abroad" has acquired the function of a noun in English.
Christian Caryl noted that a Russian historian Ivan Ivanovich told him in 1991 that originally the term had an ironic gist, as a distinction from the "true" abroad. William Safire also mentions an opinion that the term was widely used by the Soviet dissidents of 1970s-1980s as an ironic reference to the "socialist comrades", i.e., the members of the Soviet Bloc.
"Near abroad" became more widely used in English, usually to assert Russia's right to have major influence in the region,[2] [3] Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the region Russia's "sphere of influence", and strategically vital for Russia.[4] The concept has been compared to the Monroe Doctrine.[2]
In his lengthy essay The End of the Near Abroad, Thomas de Waal, among other things, expressed the opinion that the Russo-Ukrainian war put the end of the concept of "near abroad" as a Russian sphere of influence. In particular, Armenia and Moldova, seem to take an advantage of the political situation to break off from the control by Russia. Some other neighbors of Russia are trying to take an economic advantage from their increased trade with Russia due to the economic sanctions of the West.[5]
One or the indicators of the decreasing influence of Russia in its near abroad is the diminishing status of the Russian language (which had a preferred status of the "language of interethnic communication" in the Soviet Union[6] [7]): in many countries there is sharp decrease of the knowledge of Russian among the younger generations.[5]
Thomas de Waal expresses a caveat: turning the "near abroad" away from Russia does not necessarily mean turning to the West: for the states in Central Asia, aligning with China and Turkey are possible alternatives.[5]