Description

What does 'belonging to Europe' mean for the European Union's eastern neighbours? Over the past two decades, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have experienced dramatic and sometimes bitterly contested changes in their relations with the European Union and with each other. Marking a decisive step forward in the literature, White and Feklyunina explain the major shifts in the foreign policies of these three countries by tracing their identity debates throughout the post-Soviet period. Based on extensive empirical research over more than a decade, including interviews, focus groups and national surveys as well as printed sources in several languages, this field-defining study demonstrates how the divergent articulations of identity vis-à-vis 'Europe' in the three countries, coupled with divergent views of Europe and the EU, shape their foreign policy preferences in a 'Europe' that is reconsidering its own boundaries and place in a changing world.