Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Integration and Dis-Integration or Dis-Integration and Integration or Dis-Integration and Re-Integration can be quite a word play. The Dis-Integration of the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the early 1990s marks a serious and unprecedented development in modern history. It was a break-up of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics into fifteen newly independent states. Hereby, twelve states formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a structure that was to keep some order over the break-up. Three countries the Baltics announced their total independence and declared no will to be part of the CIS. A later Integration or Re-Integration within the CIS is being actively discussed and debated up to now. Several theories have evolved on the future of the region. Huntington s thesis predicts the Clash of Civilizations . He argues that the future battle over world politics will be over religious and cultural factors. Huntington predicts a split-up of the world along religious lines. In turn, Duncan rejects religion to be a factor in the current developments of the CIS. He limits Kuzio s idea of a division between the CIS into radicals and pragmatists among the two groups the Westernizers and Slavophiles . Duncan concludes that there is generally a shift towards pragmatism in the foreign policies of the member states of the FSU. Disillusionment with the West is widespread. Most important factors that make countries tend towards a Westernist or Eurasianist course are linked to ethnicity and conflict. The author views the political regime and economic reforms are less important. Other studies focus more on the relationship between Russia and the other CIS countries. Alexandrova s arguments support the trend towards pragmatism. She adds that Moscow gave up the concept of re-integration, which it was convinced of in the first years of transition. Russia s foreign policy from Yeltsin to Putin shifted from Multilateralism to Bilateralism. Russian capital, invested in the near-abroad, is seen as a strong instrument to influence other CIS states and force them to Moscow s security policy. Another -less recent- study on Integration and Disintegration from 1997 by authors of Brown University/U.S. and institutes from five newly independent states gives some outlook over the future ten years until 2006. Base for discussion were four rather extreme and abstract scenarios. Researchers and other experts from the region [...]

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. Eurasian security governance has received increasing attention since 1989. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the institution that best served the security interests of the West in its competition with the Soviet Union, is now relatively ill-equipped resolve the threats emanating from Eurasia to the Atlantic system of security governance. This book investigates the important role played by identity politics in the shaping of the Eurasian security environment. It investigates both the state in post-Soviet Eurasia as the primary site of institutionalisation and the state's concerted international action in the sphere of security. This investigation requires a major caveat: state-centric approaches to security impose analytical costs by obscuring substate and transnational actors and processes. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon marked the maturation of what had been described as the 'new terrorism'. Jervis has argued that the western system of security governance produced a security community that was contingent upon five necessary and sufficient conditions. The United States has made an effort to integrate China, Russia into the Atlantic security system via the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. The Black Sea Economic Cooperation has become engaged in disseminating security concerns in fields such as environment, energy and economy. If the end of the Cold War left America triumphant, Russia's new geopolitical hand seemed a terrible demotion. Successfully rebalancing the West and building a collaborative system with Russia, China, Europe and America probably requires more wisdom and skill from the world's leaders.

The Eurasian continent, which has for over a century lagged behind in global markets, is currently gaining economic and political momentum. This book investigates emerging economic linkages in the area, examining the factors shaping this integration, the benefits and risks involved, and the future of these states on the global stage.

This EU-funded project examines the dynamics of conflict, collaboration and competition in relation to access to oil, gas and minerals. It involves 12 different institutions from across the EU and examines oil, gas and other minerals - spanning geology, technology studies, sociology, economics and political science.