Special Sections: Russian Foreign Policy Towards the "Near Abroad" and Russia's Annexiation of Crimea II This special section deals with Russia¿s post-Maidan foreign policy towards the so-called "near abroad," or the former Soviet states. This is an important and timely topic, as Russia¿s policy perspectives have changed dramatically since 2013/2014, as have those of its neighbors. The Kremlin today is paradoxically following an aggressive "realist" agenda that seeks to clearly delineate its sphere of influence in Europe and Eurasia while simultaneously attempting to promote "soft-power" and a historical-civilizational justification for its recent actions in Ukraine (and elsewhere). The result is an often perplexing amalgam of policy positions that are difficult to disentangle. The contributors to this special issue are all regional specialists based either in Europe or the United States.

George Soroka received his PhD in Political Science from Harvard University in 2014. He is currently working on a book regarding how contentious historical interpretations function in defining contemporary foreign-policy objectives between Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. Tomasz Stêpniewski is an associate professor at the Institute of Political Science and International Affairs, Faculty of Social Sciences, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. He is also the co-editor (along with Soroka) of the book Ukraine after Maidan: Revisiting Domestic and Regional Security (Stuttgart: ibidem 2018). Rory Finnin is University Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Ukrainian Studies and Founding Director of the Cambridge Ukrainian Studies programme at the University of Cambridge. Ivan Kozachenko is Postdoctoral Research Associate in the project "Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies," which is based at the University of Cambridge and funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. Gergana Dimova is an associate lecturer in global politics at the University of Winchester (United Kingdom). She received her PhD in political science from Harvard University and was a Jeremy Haworth Research Fellow at St Catharine¿s College at the University of Cambridge. Andreas Umland is Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for European Security in the Institute of International Relations at Prague, Principal Researcher of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation at Kyiv, and General Editor of the ibidem-Verlag book series "Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society". Julie Fedor is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Melbourne. Andrey Makarychev is Guest Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Tartu, Estonia.