European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP): Eastern Partnership

This book explores power in international relations, in a world characterized by the growing competition of major powers for smaller nations. Focusing on the major powers and smaller countries of Eurasia, it argues that power in international relations is different from coercion and is rather a social contract between a leader state and follower states where reciprocity is key and where leadership relationships cannot be adequately explained by focusing solely on the leader. It challenges the perception that genuine regional leadership is quite common, contending instead that it is rare; that much more often major powers make claims for leadership; and that regional leadership does not indicate the status of a particular state, but rather the social role of the leader, which is recognized by its followers, a role which is always relative and based on communication and constant interaction with followers. The book highlights the important role followers play in recognizing regional power, the importance of a state's regional leadership strategy in creating and holding a valuable position attractive for followers and delivering greater value to followers compared to other potential leaders.

Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing a humanitarian, social and economic crisis for the Ukrainian people. The consequences of this full-scale military invasion are disrupting the global supply of commodities, sharply increasing food and energy prices, and threating the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries with established commercial and financial ties with the economies of Russia and Ukraine appear to be particularly vulnerable.
Assessing the Impact of Russia’s War against Ukraine on Eastern Partner Countries investigates the exposure of Eastern Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to the economic shocks caused by the war, and in particular through the impact that the conflict is having on inflation, migration, remittances, investment and trade.

This edited book analyses the issues of state-building, the rule of law and good governance, and human rights in the post-Soviet space after 30 years from the USSR dissolution. In doing so, it assesses the presence (or absence) and the level of influence of the Soviet legacies in the constructed political and legal systems of the post-Soviet republics. Assessing whether individual's interests are protected in theory and practice, the book conceptualizes the legacies that the Soviet Union left in the post-Soviet space after 30 years of disintegration. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of human rights, governance, democratization studies, post-Soviet and Russia studies, and more widely to comparative politics, political economy, humanitarian studies and political history.

The politico-economic relations between the European Union (EU) and Eastern Europe are currently entering a new phase, which some scholars qualify as a revival of the Cold War. This insightful book seeks to explain whether and why a Cold War Europe has returned and discusses underlying factors that clarify the relations between East and West since the Second World War. Nienke de Deugd and Herman W. Hoen comprehensively address the problematic process of EU integration, discussing crucial political, economic and security-related developments during and after the Cold War. De Deugd and Hoen draw attention to the path-dependent nature of European market reform and the processes of democratization in Eastern Europe as key factors in complicating post-communist transformation. Considering the alternating historical developments between rapprochement and estrangement, they illustrate underlying irreconcilable political-economic systems that have disrupted relations between the EU and Eastern Europe. This book is a crucial read for students of political science and international relations, particularly those focused on post-communist transformation looking for a wide-ranging overview of the dynamics of transformation and integration in post-Cold War Europe.

Based on the diverging interests of Germany and Poland as influential members of the European Union on the Eastern Partnership (EaP), the contributions in the anthology analyse specifics and current problems of the states in EU's Eastern neighbourhood. By including the interests of Russia and the USA, which go beyond the EU, the geostrategic implications of these relations for the Eurasian region will also be highlighted. The studies of renowned German and Polish experts represent the results of individual research and bilateral exchange on the current state of EU's relations towards its Eastern neighbours.

The European Union (EU) support for good governance reforms has been the cornerstone of its conditionality and funding policies and contributed its role as a transformative power. This book re-evaluates the EU's governance promotion capacity both within the EU and beyond its borders in light of the simultaneous decline in democracy in Europe in particular, and across the whole world in general. The book is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the EU's good governance transfer to member and accession countries. Part II examines how and to what extent the EU's governance promotion strategies travel beyond its borders and focuses on neighbours, partners, and aid recipient countries especially in Africa. Part III turns to other regional and global actors and discusses the implications of illiberal contesters such as China and Russia on the future of EU's good governance promotion efforts. The findings of the book bring fresh insights for the scope and depth of the EU's governancetransfer capacity.    

The book covers contributions from 18 authors from different countries and analyses the recent case law of the ECJ on the external competences of the European Union. It deals with the impact of EU values on its relations with the Eastern neighbouring countries. The first part focuses on the evolution and current challenges of the external actions of the European Union, while the second part presents the EU cooperation with its Eastern neighbourhood and Eurasia. The book addresses the Association Agreements with the countries of the Eastern Partnership with its Eastern neighbourhood and Eurasia, the enhanced Partnership Agreements in the Eastern neighbourhood and post-Soviet area, and the current and future contractual relations with Eurasian Economic Union and its member states.

This book examines the perception of European Union's identity by the main actors in international relations. Analysing issues related to public discourse in third countries as demonstrated by, amongst others, their political elites, civil society, and think-tanks, the book highlights a 'normative gap' with regards to the European Union's self-definition/perception and its perception in the international environment. It also shows that the European Union's perception of normative power in international relations is not shared consistently by the main principal actor yet is differentiated relative to geographical area and scope of activities undertaken by the EU. It demonstrates that the perception of the EU's normative identity is a source of the crisis of the European Union as an effective and significant player in the international arena. This book will be of key interest to scholar and students of European Union politics, European politics/studies, European integration, identity politics, and international relations.

The European Union is facing the worst existential crisis in its history. At the same time, it is confronted with old and new challenges in its environment that call for joint action. But how do matters stand with the EU's capacity to act? Does the EU manage to effectively combine the different components of its external relations -- such as trade, development aid, and security policy -- better than it did in the past? How is the EU's external action determined by the internal socio-economic and political crises in its member states? These questions and more are answered in Global Europe in the context of the current impasse in the integration process. A clear analysis of the history of the EU's external relations up to now provides us with a better insight into the feasibility of EU strategies directed at the outside world.