Eurasian Integration and Problems of Civil Society

The сhapter studies the relationship between the development of integration processes and the development of civil society in the post-Soviet space and, in particular, in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. It consists of five parts. The introduction presents the main trends and vectors of integration processes in the post-Soviet space. The first part considers the concept of “civil society” and its features in Western and Russian political thought. The second part highlights the features of building a civil society in the independent states of the EAEU. General points and differences in the emerging civil societies of the EAEU countries are revealed. Further, in the fourth part, the “Eurasian idea” is considered in terms of its compatibility with the peculiarities of the development of civil society in the post-Soviet space. The final part proposes a discussion topic on the possibility of political integration within the EAEU.

Eurasian Regionalism

The term ‘Eurasia' is an ambiguous concept that includes in different studies: ‘Greater Eurasia', which is associated with the Eurasian continent; ‘Central Eurasia' as a post-Soviet space; and the term Eurasia can be associated with specific integration projects in Eurasia, such as Eurasian Economic Union. This chapter defines Eurasian regionalism and prospects for its development. Authors analyze modern scientific discourse around Eurasian integration and Eurasian regionalism. They examine modern approaches to regionalism and identify some of the distinctive features of the construction of regions.

A Concept of Eurasia

This chapter analyzes the process of the Eurasian idea's evolution in historical retrospective, as well as the identification of the general and special in the basics of classical Eurasianism and neo-Eurasianism, on one hand, and modern pragmatic Eurasianism, which underlies the implementation of the Eurasian strategy of Russia and other EAEU countries and the “Greater Eurasia”, on the other. The author identifies the basic principles of the ideology of modern Eurasian integration, explains the motives and reasons for the beginning of the integration process, and defines its features.

“External Contour” of Eurasian Integration

The Eurasian Economic Union is interested in development of cooperation with external actors. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is considered as a prospect partner. ASEAN states play a significant role in economy and international relations in the Asia-Pacific region. The ASEAN is seen as one of the key institutions in Asia-Pacific integration. Moscow keeps stable and friendly relations with many states of Southeast Asia and the ASEAN. It lays a solid foundation for development of a dialogue in Eurasian format. The EAEU signed with Vietnam a free trade agreement in 2015 and it is negotiating on similar treaties with some other states of the ASEAN. The Association expressed readiness to consider the issue of a comprehensive free trade zone between the EAEU and the ASEAN. In November 2018 the Eurasian Economic Commission and the ASEAN Secretariat adopted a memorandum of understanding. The dialogue in Eurasian format can accelerate cooperation between states of the EAEU and Southeast Asia and create more benevolent conditions for alignment of the EAEU and the ASEAN.

Features of “Soft Power” in the Eurasian Economic Union and the Role of Russia

The chapter is devoted to the problem of the formation of “soft power” in the Eurasian space. All attempts to find a common language between states in the world lead to the fact that an appeal to “soft power” appears more and more often on the states' agenda as a tool of achieving the goals of the states, including the states of Eurasian region. The concept of “soft power”, introduced into the circulation of the modern theory of international relations by J. Nye, is being actively discussed in Russia. In recent years, President V. Putin and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia S. Lavrov were repeatedly called upon to multiply the Russian resource of “soft power” for solving foreign policy tasks. Undoubtedly, this is also valid when we speak about Eurasian integration.

Eurasian Economic Union as the Space of Security in the Context of English School of International Relations

Regional integration creates a common economic, social, and political space, which is based on interstate dialogue. A common integration space forms the territory of security, since the security sphere is not only to solve specific tasks, but also to create permanent instruments for preventing various risks. The Post-Soviet space remains a complex territory, the states of which have gone through a period of political destabilization, faced various threats, and come to the idea that only collective security mechanisms in the framework of constant cooperation are capable of preventing risks. Therefore, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is not only an economic project, it is a project that forms a common security space for all participants, and not only for its member states. In this regard, this chapter is structured around two key problems: established conceptual approaches in the field of security in relation to integration processes and tools of the EAEU for the formation of a common and indivisible security space for all its participants.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) From the Perspective of International Relations (IR) Theories

This chapter examines the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) from the perspective of the main theories in the Discipline of International Relations (IR). The author sketches out the main stages of the development of the EAEU cooperation by highlighting the conceptualization of the scheme by President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan in 1994, the establishment of the Customs Union (CU), and the Common Economic Space (CES) between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in 2010. Theories analyzed include Neo-Realism, Neo-Classic Realism, Hegemonic Stability Theory, Liberalism, Functionalism, Neo-Functionalism, Neo-Institutionalism, the English School, Constructivism, and Neo-Gramscian Theory. The author makes an overall evaluation and stresses the need for an eclectic approach for analyzing the EAEU experience.

Connecting Eurasia

As China further embarks on implementing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and remains firmly set on pursuing the ambitious goal of connecting China overland with Europe, the European Union (EU) and Russia - as indispensable stakeholders for this continental connection to successfully materialize – have been developing policy responses to China's initiative that reveal an unexpected willingness to cooperate. In scrutinizing the likelihood of cooperation on connectivity between the EU, China, and Russia in Central Asia, this chapter identifies the common interests between the three sides, and highlights to what extent cooperation between them is possible in Central Asia. In doing so, the chapter points to the main opportunities while outlining the main bottlenecks, which mostly stem from the underlying geopolitical rivalry between these three actors, as well as their diverging beliefs and approaches to connectivity and development.

Eurasian Integration of Belarus as Path-Dependence

There is a tendency to explain all the problems and choices made by the Republic of Belarus as a result of the policy of its leadership. This text offers a take on choices made by Belarus in favor of preserving and strengthening relations with Russia through the prism of the concept of path-dependence. Simply said, economic, social, and political circumstances determine the vector of development of the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as they frame and transform president Lukashenka's intentions. Thus, country's participation in the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union is a predictable step in a chain of interconnected choices that the Belarusian political elite have been making since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Special attention in the text is paid to what the analysis of the Belarusian case can tell about the nature and prospects of integration in the region.

Common Market of Goods, Services, Capital, and Labor in the EAEU

The chapter examines the stages preceding creation of the common market of goods, services, capital, and labor within the EAEU, evaluates effects and proposes directions of improvement, considering the world experience. Attention is given not only to negative integration (elimination of barriers), but also to positive (signing of agreements, creation of institutions, mechanisms for cooperation, budget management and joint projects). The production cooperation, joint research, and digital economy are also considered. Based on the methodology of system analysis and integration design, the author identified problems of the EAEU common market and proposed aspects for improvement: deepening of negative integration and regulatory convergence; increasing positive integration; combination of integration with development; creation of the common system of protection; redistribution of benefits and costs; strengthening of supra-national regulation; improvement of statistics and monitoring; increasing of budget, stimulating innovations, structural changes, sustainable development and inclusive growth.