Ukraine Between The Eu And Russia Geopolitics And Mechanisms Of External Influence Behind European And Russian Integration Projects

Essay aus dem Jahr 2018 im Fachbereich Politik - Internationale Politik - Thema: Europäische Union, Note: 1, Universität Wien (Institut für Politikwissenschaft), Veranstaltung: (BAK11) European Union - The European Union as a global actor, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: What geopolitical reasons lie behind the competing integrations projects initiated from Russia and the EU concerning Ukraine? This is the main question this essay is addressing. Additionally, it is also asked what extant these competing dynamics could lead to tension, conflict and war in the eastern European region. Which tools of soft and hard power from both Russia and the EU are used in order to influence the Ukrainian political trajectories in the post Orange Revolution era? Russia’s and EU’s integration policies will be therefore described in empirical terms, based on secondary literature, and interpreted in terms of (neo-)realism. In analyzing Russia’s and EU’s foreign policy towards the Ukraine the author will consider Russia’s and EU’s official foreign policy concepts and other relevant documents and statements by their representatives. Among the features of the post-socialist transformation of Eastern Europe over the past two decades have been the conflicts over collective identities, geostrategic territories (national borders) and natural resources (especially natural gas and crude oil). Sometimes these conflicts have led to military confrontations. But most important both external actors Russia and the EU have used a wide variety of instruments ranging from more coercive to softer tools in order to influence the domestic trajectories of the former Soviet states, geographically squeezed between the EU and Russia. As we will see in this essay, the case of Ukraine is special and is a culmination of a long-term crisis in EU-Russia relations.

This book addresses the complex origins of the Ukrainian crisis. It places the crisis in a longer-term perspective and shows how the domestic political regime interpreted, balanced and eventually chose between the competing integration offers of Russia and the EU. It also explores the key implications for Ukraine's relations with the EU and Russia.

In light of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine, West-Russia relations have so dramatically deteriorated that talk of a new Cold War has become routine. NATO’s role in Europe is again in the spotlight, with experts and policymakers pondering whether the Alliance needs to go back to its historical roots and re-calibrate itself as an instrument of defence from and containment of Russia. At the same time, cooperation between Russia and the West has not collapsed altogether coordinate on issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme. Clearly, tensions over Ukraine are so strong that the risk of a breakdown in relations cannot be ruled out. The contributions to this volume, the result of an international conference jointly organized by the Istituto Affari Internazionali and the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, analyze the dramatic shift in Europe’s strategic context and explore the question of whether Russia and the West can contain tensions, manage competition, and keep cooperating on issues of mutual concern.

This book surveys the Ukrainian-EU relationship in light of the legacies of more than two hundred years of direct Russian rule. It examines interrelationships between identities, loyalties and political/cultural orientations, reviews policies, and identifies salient forces and trends.

Master's Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - Region: Eastern Europe, grade: 1,3, University of Hamburg (Departement für Wirtschaft und Politik), language: English, abstract: Up to today the realities in Post-Soviet space are defined by the search for state and national identity in contrast to the former peripheral existence during the Soviet past. From the very beginning of their independence the newly independent states were afflicted with different problems resulting from the ambiguous situation of quasi sovereignty but still strictly Moscow centralised rule. A regime change always demands great flexibility in ideas of these who have to deal with the remains of the past and the results of the breakdown in order to find an adequate approach to the new realities. It is therefore not astonishing that in account to the various economic and social constraints in the different Newly Independent States, each was in search of its own way to deal with the problems of state-building, acceptance of the international community and Russia’s attempts to dominate the former sphere of influence. The analysis will deal with the special case of Ukraine's emancipation from the USSR heritage and the historic dominance of an imperial Russia. The focus of analysis will be put on the processes of state-identity building in the framework of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), Western Europe and the EU, as well as the context of Russian foreign policy towards the ‘Near Abroad’. The subject is especially relevant today, since a wave of ‘colourful’ revolutions has taken place on the territories of some former Soviet republics in the past to years, showing that the political processes of forming a nation are still hard to predict in that region. The important change that goes on in the former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, is the transition from the main foreign policy objective of the 1990s – either to escape from Russia or to stay. Now, the question seems to be: ‘Where to go?’. Ukraine, during the events of November-December 2004, the so-called “Orange Revolution”, seems to have chosen a new quality of nation state identity – the Euro-Atlantic orientation in the international arena. In the following work, Ukrainian state identity building in the sphere of influence of two major world powers, the European Union and Russia, will be in the focus of social and political analysis. The approach is aiming at developing a better understanding of the Ukrainian situation which can be metaphorically be described as that of a “shock absorber” between Russia and the European Union (EU) in many perspectives.

This book assesses the competitive and contentious EU–Russia relationship in relation to Ukraine from 2010 to 2013, focusing on the important areas of trade, energy and security. The key issue explored is whether this relationship played any meaningful role in the deterioration of the situation in Ukraine since late 2013.

This volume is the result of the work of scientists from several scientific disciplines who used various methods and forecasting techniques to answer the question: "What would happen if NATO and the EU weakened in the 21st century and Russia continued to influence the already strongly democratized and free-market societies in the region?" It is prognostic and intended to present the results of research on the political and social perception of the surveyed nations in the face of the weakening of the EU / NATO international security structures and the constant pressure from the Russian Federation in the 21st century. Please note: The research in this book covers the period 2020–2021.

By introducing the Wider Europe concept and the European Neighborhood Policy, the European Union has actually entered a region which Russia has long considered the sphere of its national interests. Despite the fact that both Moscow and Brussels have repeatedly stated that their respective regional projects in the Post-Soviet Space are not competitors, the steady Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine since the Orange Revolution of 2004 has been accompanied by increasing tension in Russian-Ukrainian relations. The present Occasional Paper, which analyses the geoeconomic, geopolitical and socio-cultural dimensions of relations in the Russia-EU-Ukraine triangle, suggests that these relations represent a kind of 'zero-sum game'. Regardless of the fact that Russia and the EU would like to avoid any clash in the Wider Europe, both sides have been pursuing their own strategies with the same goal in mind--shaping the Post-Soviet Space (PSS) according to their vision. Guided by these diverging visions for the PSS, it seems likely that Moscow and Brussels will seek to achieve different objectives, eventually reaching the point where their strategies and methods will generate tensions or even serious problems in their bilateral relations. Ukraine's European project as it is currently evolving with the support of Brussels tends to undermine the main components of Moscow's regional project for the PSS. As Kyiv tries to speed up its European trajectory without becoming overtly hostile to Moscow, it is weakening or even directly jeopardising the Russia-led political, social and economic structures based on the bonds that linked the states of the former Soviet Union--the common industrial complex, intertwined political developments and the single cultural space. Therefore, as a matter of urgency the EU needs to think over its foreign policies in the Eastern Neighbourhood with great care, bearing in mind their impact on relations with Russia, as well as Moscow's possible response.