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Abstract
AsaresultoftheSovietUnion’sdecomposition,anewgeopoliticalreal-
itystartedtoemergeinthevastareaofEurasia.Integrationanddisintegration
processes,underwayforovertwentyyears,arebecomingincreasinglysignifi-
cantwithinthecontextofgrowing“turbulence”ininternationalrelations,dy-
namicchangesintheinternationalbalanceofpower,seriousinternationalse-
curitychallenges,aswellastheworldfinancialcrisisthatstartedin2008.The
potentialoftheformerUSSRareatoplayanimportantroleinchangingworld
orderisrelatedtoitsstrategiclocationbetweentheEastandtheWest,theNorth
andtheSouth;thekeypointsofreferenceforcreatingforeignpoliciesofthe
post-Sovietstatesarethe“new”economicpowers(China,India)andthe“old”
ones(EuropeanUnion,UnitedStates),aswellastheunstableIslamicSouth.
Thequestionremains,however,whetherthepost-SovietEurasiacanbecome
oneofthe“pivotpoints”notonlyinglobaltradeflow,butalsointhesystem
ofinternationalsecurity.Inthiscontextonecanhardlyoverestimatetheroleof
Russia:certainlydominantinitsformerimperialdomain,cherishingambitions
toshapethenewworldorder,andaspiringtoreintegrateits“traditionalsphere
ofinfluence”underitsownaegis.
Theinternationalinteractionstakingplaceinthepost-Sovietareaarehighly
ambivalent.Ontheonehand,onecanobservethedevelopmentofcentrifugal
tendencies,includingthedecompositionofbondsformedduringtheSoviet
era,aswellasthegrowinginterferenceof“externalplayers”,withwhomRus-
siaisforcedtocompete,tryingtomaintainitscloutwithinthe“nearabroad”.
Ontheotherhand,onecanbeastonishedbythepersistenceanddevelopment,
albeithesitant,ofthecooperationmechanismsuponwhichthe“international
integration”projectshavebeenbuiltsincetheearly1990s.Despitetheirlow
efficiency,theformerSovietrepublicsare-moreoftenthannot-notreadyto
abandonthoseinitiatives.Thesetendenciesgainimportanceinthelightofthe
recentlylaunchedreintegrationproject:theCustomsUnionandSingleEco-
nomicAreaoftheEurasianEconomicCommunity.
Thekeyfactordeterminingthe“hybrid-like”,erraticcharacteroftheseproc-
essesistheimperialheritagefoundintheentireregion,abovealltheSoviet
one.Itstillserves,toalargeextent,asapointofreferenceforshapingforeign
anddomesticpoliciesofthepost-Sovietstates.Whereascentrifugaltendencies
resultfromthesearchofanewidentityandroleontheinternationalarenaby
theformerSovietrepublics,aswellasfromthedynamicsofstate-building
andnation-buildingprocesses,centripetaltendenciesaremostlyrelatedto
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