Clustering and innovation security in the regions of western Russia: inventory and main development trends

The article is devoted to the issues of cluster formation as a resource of innovative security in the Western border regions of Russia, that suffer from the current situation of geo-economic changes and instability. Basing on the analysis of a wide range of empirical evidence, the study gives the inventory and review of all the clusters formed in the in border regions of Western Russia over the past two decades. Both self-organized cluster structures and ones formed with the participation of regional administrative bodies are analyzed, as well as potential clusters and ones being in the process of formation. The revealed trends of clustering are compared with the indicators of innovative development of the studied regions.