Unenviable Inevitability: The Negative Outlook of Russia's Eurasian Union
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Not only those in the West scrambled together a response to Russian action in Ukraine throughout 2014. Russia’s closest allies, Belarus and Kazakhstan, also chafed at an overextension of Russian hegemony in the post-Soviet space. The never before seen indignation that both countries exhibited as a result of Russian action can only signal a downturn in relations between each state and Russia. Consequently, Russia’s primary foreign policy goal, establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union, is in serious jeopardy. Belarusian and Kazakhstani leaders moved their respective states further away from Russian control by aligning closer with other world powers. Distressed by Russian action in Crimea, each government promoted additional policies to ensure that Russian-supported separatism would not undermine either Belarus or Kazakhstan from within. Experts have argued that the best bet for each country has always been to follow Russian initiatives in order to recoup economic or political rewards from the Kremlin. As a result, many analysts expected both states join the Eurasian Union when invited. Indeed, both did. Belarus and Kazakhstan have generally supported Moscow’s positions since the fall of the Soviet Union up until the conflict in Ukraine. They even supported Moscow’s policies during its de-facto annexation of Georgian territory in 2008. However, the Crimean and Eastern Ukrainian episodes are unique even amongst Russian military interventions, and that uniqueness is not lost to the governments of Belarus or Kazakhstan. Both countries appear to be moving away from Russia’s sphere of influence. Therefore, without a change in political realities, the Eurasian Union will inevitably become like other discarded relics of post-Soviet integration: a shell of what could have been.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | May 22, 2015 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Rebo, Samuel |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Blacker, Coit D. |
| Advisor | Naimark, Norman |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Program in International Relations |
Subjects
| Subject | Russia |
|---|---|
| Subject | Eurasia |
| Subject | Ukraine |
| Subject | Georgia |
| Subject | Putin |
| Subject | CISAC |
| Subject | geopolitics |
| Subject | Center for International Security and Cooperation |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
| Related item |
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|---|---|
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/vw542rz1802 |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Rebo, Samuel. (2015). Unenviable Inevitability: The Negative Outlook of Russia's Eurasian Union. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/vw542rz1802
Collection
Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies, Theses
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- Contact
- srebo@stanford.edu
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