The European Union and Russia

Description

This important text provides readers with a systematic and comprehensive overview of the historic and ever-evolving relationship between Russia and the European Union, and on that basis discusses what the future of relations could look like. The EU's policy towards Russia can be regarded as one of the toughest tests of the credibility of its external relations, and in examining the dynamics of the relationship, this book poses essential questions about the EU's ability to sustain itself as a meaningful entity in world politics. Written by two experts in the field, it analyses the political and institutional development of EU-Russia relations from three perspectives: European studies, Russian studies and International Relations, including Foreign Policy Analysis. The relationship between the European Union and Russia is of considerable importance to both partners, but whilst there have been many moments of co-operation between the two, tensions have never been far from the surface and the conflict over Ukraine brought it to a historical nadir. Both have taken steps to strengthen their relationship, but diplomatic stagnation and the challenge of furthering common economic, political, social, and environmental objectives have proved increasingly testing to relations over time. This important text provides readers with a systematic and comprehensive overview of the historic and ever-evolving relationship between Russia and the European Union, suitable for students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in European Studies, Russian Studies and International Relations theory.

Tuomas Forsberg is Professor of International Politics at the University of Tampere and Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence on Choices of Russian Modernisation at the Aleksanteri Institute of the University of Helsinki. Hiski Haukkala is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the School of Management at the University of Tampere, a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Natolin, Warsaw, and a Special Adviser at the Unit for Policy Planning and Research at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

'Russia wants to be accepted on an equal footing, Europe sees it as a waning superpower... Haukkala and Forsberg take us on a highly informative tour d'horizon of the practical consequences of the non-meeting.' - Iver Neumann, London School of Economics, UK. 'Forsberg and Haukkala provide a rich, analytical explanation of efforts at EU-Russian cooperation in different issue areas. They show how these sincere efforts could still result in the Ukraine crisis, portraying it as the unintended consequence of interaction between the two sides driven by misperception and misunderstanding.' - Deborah Welch Larson, UCLA, USA 'The most comprehensive and balanced account yet of the Russia-EU relationship. It tells a tale of self-delusion, hubris and missed opportunities. This book is not only a superb piece of scholarship, but also an indispensable tool for policy-makers.' - Bobo Lo, Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, UK.