Bertil Nygren

F.D., docent
Ph.D., Associate Professor

E-mail: bertil.nygren@statsvet.su.se

   Hemsidan

A Slavic Triangle? Present and Future Relations Between Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

(Together with Moshes Arkady)

This anthology deals with the relations between the three Slavic ountries that emerged from the demise of the USSR, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The fundamental underlying question in the book is whether or not there are any prospects of a Slavic (Re)Union, as a reaction to the NATO and EU enlargement processes. This question is approached from different angles and perspectives, from three country perspectives (Russia, Ukraine and Belarus) an from the ideational perspective, the military strategic and the political and economic perspectives.

There are basically three reasons for the revival of the Slavic Union idea: the inter-connectedness of the economies, the culture of the political elites, and the ethnic-linguistic factor. The answer to the basic question, to the extent that there is one such answer, is that the prospects for a true Slavic Union are less than minimal at present, that the centrifugal forces are stronger than the centripetal, despite the political rethorics at elections, and within the red-brown political bloc. Most importantly, Russia is not even interested in a re-imperialisation at the moment, and the relations involving two of the three Slavic countries are rather based on economism and pragmatism (Russia and Ukraine), and the Russian and Ukrainian political drift westward has rather left Belarus behind, and Belarus thus constitutes more of a burden to Russia and Ukraine than an ally.

Although the idea of a Slavic Union is dead for the time being, the issue will tend to pop up again every time the West tries to isolate Russia and her neighbors from European and western affairs.

Contents

Introduction
Bertil Nygren

Putin's foreign policy agenda: post-Soviet challenges to the European orientation
Pavel K. Baev

The evolution of relations between Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in the light of the NATO and EU enlargements
Jakob Hedenskog

Military cooperation between the Slavic CIS states
Pentti Forsström

The evolution of relations within the Slavic Triangle: a view from Russia
Arkady Moshes

The Slavic Triangle. Ukraine's relations with Russia and Belarus: A Ukrainian view
Olexiy Haran' and Serhiy Tolstov

The prospects of Slavic unity. Belarus' relations with Russia and Ukraine: a Belarusian view
Valery Karbalevich

The history of the `Slavic union' idea
Bertil Nygren