The Eurasian Economic Union as part of Eurasian (dis)integration

Abstract

Exploring the main cooperation schemes between the member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) within a broader context of the geopolitical processes in the Post-Soviet space, the article intends to discuss the feasibility of integration among Former Soviet countries. The article intends to present the formally announced integration initiatives in the Post-Soviet space (such as the CIS, EurAsEC and EAEU) as part of a de-facto ongoing process of disintegration that started right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Within this scheme, Russia consistently acts as a generator of a centripetal integration force by proposing different institutional frameworks for integration. However, it is not sufficiently powerful to overcome the centrifugal inertia acquired by the rest of the Post-Soviet states. The article concludes that, in spite of its formal integration purposes, the EAEU is indeed another stage of the ongoing disintegration process in the Post-Soviet space.

Keywords

• eurasian integration
• eurasian economic union
• post-soviet space
• russia
• disintegration