near abroad

• near-abroad

Calque of Russian бли́жнее зарубе́жье (blížneje zarubéžʹje).

near abroad (uncountable)

1. The other countries and political regions which are in the vicinity of a country or political region.
   • 2004 Dec. 6, Paul Quinn-Judge and Yuri Zarakhovich, "The Orange Revolution," Time, p. 20:

     In his first term, George W. Bush was willing to give Putin a free hand in what Russia calls the near abroad, the states that spun off from the broken Soviet Union.

   • 2011 May 18, Timothy Garton Ash, "Obama can now define the third great project of Euro-Atlantic partnership," The Guardian (retrieved 9 Jan 2013):

     North Africa and the Middle East are, after all, Europe's near-abroad.

   • 2013 Jan. 5, "Japanese foreign policy: Down-turn Abe," The Economist (retrieved 9 Jan 2013):

     Japan has island disputes with all three of its neighbours, Russia, South Korea and China, leaving it diplomatically isolated in its near-abroad.

• Originally used to refer to the newly-established independent republics surrounding Russia after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, but now used to refer to other regions of the globe as well.

• far abroad

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