As is frequently argued by scholars of international politics, particularly in the school of constructivism, identities and national interests are cognitive phenomena and are socially constructed. A state’s collective, regional identity constitutes recognition of threats, opportunities, enemies, and allies. However, theoretically, there remains ambiguity about endogenizing identity change or transformation. Case studies concerning Russia’s new identity formation after the collapse of the Soviet Union can contribute to strengthen this point.

Under the Putin administration, Russia has vigorously attempted to get involved in the regional cooperation in Asia. Especially in the past three years after the Ukraine crisis, perhaps in response to the deterioration of Russia’s relations with the “West”, not a few specialists have observed its “pivot to the East.” Russia’s Eurasian identity plays an essential role in this attempt. The study examines how Russia’s Eurasian identity was formed, how it developed, and how the concept of “Eurasia,” referring to the region bridging Europe and Asia, has been argued in the discourse of diplomacy.

In the author’s view, there are several groups of “Neo-Eurasianists” currently. Some scholars speculated the influence on Russian politics of ideologues who claimed Russia to be an anti-Western, Eurasian power; however, most of them focused too much on some extremists, such as Alexandr Dugin. To explain the association between the Eurasian idea and diplomacy, more attention should be paid to the specialists of or working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Leading Russian scholars and specialists in East Asian studies took considerable time to conceptualize Russia’s new regional identity. Some of them rediscovered the old idea of “Eurasianism” which originated in the 1920s–30s among the émigré intellectuals. To consolidate the ties of the Russian nation with states in the post-Soviet space and its regional integration with Asia, those who were searching for a new regional identity found it and modified it into “Neo-Eurasianism.” In several respects, the updated version of Eurasianism is relevant to the present situation of Russia.

In their recent discourses, “Eurasia” has the following two features. (1) It represents a “mega region” in the ongoing project to connect several regional architectures such as EAEU, SCO, Chinese SREB project, and ASEAN. In the project, Russia characterizes itself as a hub of Eurasian regional powers, and (2) as an intermediary concept to legitimize cooperation with China, it subsequently appeals its orientation to multipolarity in the world, which has been the vision as well as the goal of Russia’s diplomacy since the mid-1990s. In brief, Eurasian identity motivates Russia’s policies and behaviors during the “Pivot to the East”.