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The Black Sea Region is between two competing spatial orders, that of the EU/ Europe and that of Russia/CIS. A “counter-coalition to Russia” is being formed in this region. It is an academic truism to speculate about “fuzzy borders” of the EU; yet the contours and shapes of Russian spatial order are also not that simple. The ambiguity stems from numerous nationalist voices in Russia questioning the belonging of Crimea to Ukraine, as well as from the existence of sizeable communities of Russian citizens in Transnistria, Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. The closer EU and Russia get to each other geographically, the more conflictual the relations between them tend to become. If the coalition against Russia is successful, it might lift Ukraine to the status of regional power and, conversely, drag Russia down from the level of great power to that of regional power. Under this scenario, the idea of a Moscow-led “second, non-Western Europe” (to include Russia itself along with Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and even some Balkan countries) advocated by some Russian intellectuals, will definitely fail.

 

CONTRIBUTOR
Andrey S. Makarychev
Andrey S. Makarychev
Foreword Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, or the BRICS nations, are living proof of how power and influence are constantly changing in the world's politics and economy. Redefining their positions within the global system and laying the groundwork for a multilateral world order that aims to challenge the traditional dominance of Western economies and institutions, the BRICS countries have...
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