- R2.12, Ramphal Building, School of Cross-Faculty Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL
Elena A Korosteleva
University of Warwick, Global Sustainable Development, Faculty Member
- International Relations, International Relations Theory, Governmentality, Governance, European integration, European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), and 37 moreInternational Politics, European Security and Defence Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership Initiative, EU-Russia relations, Politics of Belarus, Democracy, Political Science, Cross-border cooperation, European Enlargement, European area of freedom, security and justice, Democratization, European Union Politics, Belarus, Politics of Moldova, Politics of Ukraine, East European Politics, Russian Politics, European Politics, Ukrainian Politics, Politics of Russia, European identity, European Union, Electoral Behavior, New Models Of Democracy, Political Elites, Political Parties, Soviet, post-Soviet, Russian politics, Belarusian Studies, European Studies, Eastern Partnership, Eastern European Studies, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, Elections, Moldova, and Post-Soviet Studiesedit
- Elena Korosteleva is Professor of Politcs and Global Sustainable Development and Director of the Institute for Global... moreElena Korosteleva is Professor of Politcs and Global Sustainable Development and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick. She holds doctoral degrees from the University of Bath and the Belarusian State University. Her research primarily focuses on resilience and adaptive governance; EU foreign policies (ENP and EaP); and Central Eurasia as area studies. Elena is Principal Investigator on the £4 million Global Challenges Research Fund COMPASS project focusing on resilience and adaptive governance in Central Eurasia; co-investigator and Visiting Professor at the Oxford Belarus Observatory; co-investigator for Global Challenges Research Fund AGRE project.edit
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT As with the rest of the world, Belarus has been affected by the global economic crisis. However, the main consequences for the country were less economic, but rather political in nature. Although closely connected with Russia, it... more
ABSTRACT As with the rest of the world, Belarus has been affected by the global economic crisis. However, the main consequences for the country were less economic, but rather political in nature. Although closely connected with Russia, it was not the spill-over of the crisis, such as the reduction in its hitherto ‘miraculous’ levels of economic growth to almost nothing in one year, that hit Belarus hard. Instead, it was Russia's deliberate politics of ‘pragmatization’, directed at its ‘near abroad’ to facilitate compliance of and interdependence with its neighbours, which dramatically altered Belarus's foreign policy landscape. The two principal corollaries of the global crisis for Belarus therefore included the new and irreversible search (successful or otherwise) for diversification away from Russia, and the reinvigorated sense of sovereignty with which Belarus now attempts to rebuild itself domestically and internationally.
Research Interests: Economics, Political Economy, Sovereignty, Political Science, Politics, and 4 moreForeign Policy, nothing, J, and Jz
The article examines some conceptual and practical tensions related to the application of the external governance framework to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in less motivated states, such as Belarus. First, it critically... more
The article examines some conceptual and practical tensions related to the application of the external governance framework to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in less motivated states, such as Belarus. First, it critically analyses the foundations of the external ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT After recent enlargements, the EU sought to develop a new strategy that would incentivise rather than compel, in the absence of a membership prospect, the neighbours for reform. The concept of partnership was placed on the agenda... more
ABSTRACT After recent enlargements, the EU sought to develop a new strategy that would incentivise rather than compel, in the absence of a membership prospect, the neighbours for reform. The concept of partnership was placed on the agenda as a supplementary tool of EU governance to offset negative externalities of convergence and compliance. However, it has taken the EU three conceptual iterations to finally identify a suitable frame for engagement. This paper posits that the EU is currently at a critical juncture observing an important shift in its modus operandi – away from hierarchical coordination and control, to more networked relations of self-censorship and ownership, designed to operate through a complex matrix of grass-root initiatives to penetrate all levels of society. To make it an effective model for the future external relations, the EU still requires two important elements – institutionalisation of the new governance structure, and learning about 'the other', to mobilise partners' support for reciprocal and sustainable cooperation.
Research Interests:
The chapter examines challenges posed by the changing eastern region to the EU’s eastward foreign policy. It argues that while the EU has been reflective of its approach to the neighbourhood, it still struggles to understand and engage... more
The chapter examines challenges posed by the changing eastern region to the EU’s eastward foreign policy. It argues that while the EU has been reflective of its approach to the neighbourhood, it still struggles to understand and engage with the increasing complexities of the region. These in particular include the rise of the Eurasian Economic Union and the neighbours’ strong preference for developing complementarity between the EU and Russia’s region-building initiatives. Furthermore, the chapter contends that it is precisely the lack of positive othering involving recognition and engagement between the EU and Russia, and the wider region that prevents the development of more sustainable and effective policies towards the region.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Defining Belarus’ place in the regional geopolitical landscape is deceptively easy: despite its formal pronouncements it is neither entirely committed to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) or future Eurasian Union (EaU), nor is it fully... more
Defining Belarus’ place in the regional geopolitical landscape is deceptively easy: despite its formal pronouncements it is neither entirely committed to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) or future Eurasian Union (EaU), nor is it fully integrated with the Eastern Partnership Initiative (EaP). With the accelerating pace and infrastructural development of both frameworks, Belarus finds itself increasingly at a crossroads, as a reluctant bystander facing an impending dilemma of choice between the European Union (EU) and Russia/ EEU, of significant consequence for its economic and political future.
Research Interests: Geopolitics, Political Science, European Union, Economic and Monetary Union, Customs Union, and 5 moreDilemma, Pace, H, J, and Jz
The EU continuously searches for more effective policy towards its eastern neighbourhood, which is reflected in the on-going adaptation of its existing approaches, discourses and policy strategies to the new challenges of its external... more
The EU continuously searches for more effective policy towards its eastern neighbourhood, which is reflected in the on-going adaptation of its existing approaches, discourses and policy strategies to the new challenges of its external environment. In order to understand the complexity and limitations of the EU framework under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership Initiative (EaP) – that is, to consider the interface between policy instruments, institutional structures, and multiple agents – one needs to adopt an original analytical perspective of practices to comprehensively assess the policies’ outcomes. This volume therefore offers an examination of social practices as implemented through the use of policy instruments and subsequently embedded into the existing/emergent social structures which shape and determine the EU-neighbours’ relations. To gauge success of the ENP in the eastern region, the manuscript pulls together a rich collection of geographical and thematic case-studies, joined by the overarching conceptual framework of practices.This study’s principal aims are to discern patterns of social practices which guide agents’ interactions in different policy areas; to explore the origin and effect of these practices (the role of dominant discourses, logistical imbalances, deliberate strategies, etc.); and to explicate the nature of the emerging social structures being established in the eastern region. This approach is distinctive from other constructivist undertakings as it allows to synergise the meanings of social actions (through the focus on agents and instruments), and their structural extensions (through the focus on emergent structures) across geo- and bio-political localities of the EU and its eastern neighbourhood.Peer reviewe
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Western commentators sometimes refer to Belarus as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’.1 This emotively charged description is certainly an exaggeration. It nonetheless captures the unique situation in which Belarus has found itself the target... more
Western commentators sometimes refer to Belarus as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’.1 This emotively charged description is certainly an exaggeration. It nonetheless captures the unique situation in which Belarus has found itself the target of consistent criticism on the part of Europe’s main international organizations and the United States for failing to meet what most European nations recognize as international democratic standards. The administration of President Lukashenko, who has been in power for the last decade, finds itself in a state of confrontation with ‘the West’, primarily due to its non-espousal of these standards — at least as perceived by the country’s critics. The Belarusian administration has proved remarkably insensitive to external pressure, giving rise to policy dilemmas for external actors wishing to encourage political liberalization and promote democratic norms in Belarus. By all accounts, the West’s attempts to promote democratic norms in Belarus have failed. The considerable popular legitimacy of the Belarusian president, despite his authoritarian style of government, poses the questions of whether Belarusian society actually espouses democratic norms and, if not, to what extent it may be receptive to them.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The global rules-based order has been in transformation for more than a decade, whilst the liberal international order has been in crisis and new international orders are emerging. Within this context, the Russian invasion of Ukraine... more
The global rules-based order has been in transformation for more than a decade, whilst the liberal international order has been in crisis and new international orders are emerging. Within this context, the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks what the Germans have called a Zeitenwende because the multi-order world is now a reality. The article outlines the main characteristics and implications of a multi-order world and outlines four categories of orders that will populate the multi-order world. The article details Putin’s vision for a Eurasian order and how his plans are received within the Eurasian order. The article offers a perspective on how the global dynamics of the new multi-order world might play out, showing that it is likely to be conflictual rather than a cooperative, and that members of the Eurasian order show little enthusiasm for Putin’s vision, resulting in an order held together by force rather than consent.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Five years after Maidan, is Moscow’s commitment to the Greater Eurasia paradigm a sign of global power’s continued eastward shift, or rather an indication of Russia’s weakness and reliance on other rising powers to maintain a global... more
Five years after Maidan, is Moscow’s commitment to the Greater Eurasia paradigm a sign of global power’s continued eastward shift, or rather an indication of Russia’s weakness and reliance on other rising powers to maintain a global profile? How committed is Russia to integrating politically and economically with the rest of Eurasia? And following Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s election and the peaceful transfer of power in Ukraine, will Russia again look west, with the European model once more proving attractive to a critical mass of Russians? This report, building on a workshop held at LSE IDEAS in December 2018 and supported by the Horizon 2020 UPTAKE and Global Challenges Research Fund COMPASS projects, brings together some of the UK’s foremost scholars on Russia, the EU and the post-Soviet space to evaluate the challenges and opportunities facing Russia’s ‘Greater Eurasia’ foreign policy concept.
Research Interests:
Drawing on Jenny Edkins’ post-structuralist interpretation of ‘politics’ and ‘the political’, this chapter offers a new conceptual account of the stagnated relations between the European Union and the eastern region. Part of the... more
Drawing on Jenny Edkins’ post-structuralist interpretation of ‘politics’ and ‘the political’, this chapter offers a new conceptual account of the stagnated relations between the European Union and the eastern region. Part of the difficulty, as this chapter argues, is the EU’s failure to imagine a new social order, which would give a relational value to the Other, and become more accommodating of the neighbours’ diverse and different world views. The chapter problematizes power relations as a process of ‘othering’ in order to re-conceptualize them via the key notions of ‘differentiation’, conceived as distinction rather than deviation, and ‘normalization’, seen as the interplay between different normalities. It argues for bringing ‘the political’ back in as an opportunity to imagine and legitimize contesting social orders.
Research Interests:
The EU has considerably progressed in fostering a common vision for the European Security Strategy (ESS). It moved beyond the national priorities of individual Member States to collectively consider the interests of the European Union... more
The EU has considerably progressed in fostering a common vision for the European Security Strategy (ESS). It moved beyond the national priorities of individual Member States to collectively consider the interests of the European Union (EU) as a whole, and to separately articulate its external (2003)[1] and internal (2010)[2] security priorities. At the same time, more challenging tasks still lie ahead, as highlighted by the High Representative report of June 2015. Primarily, they relate to: •facilitating a joined-up vision, merging external and internal dimensions of security; •developing a joined-up inter-institutional approach involving all Members States and EU institutions, and connecting policy instruments and geographical silos into a European Security Model (ESM); and •fostering sustainable partnerships (including of strategic interests) with regional and global actors. If implemented, the strategy has the potential to enable the EU to extend its security goals beyond its bor...
Research Interests:
This article introduces the special issue by going beyond the traditional debates about geopolitics and great power rivalry. Instead, it examines the emergent and highly complex world of Central Eurasia, in its transformative effort to... more
This article introduces the special issue by going beyond the traditional debates about geopolitics and great power rivalry. Instead, it examines the emergent and highly complex world of Central Eurasia, in its transformative effort to reorder itself in response to both global and local change. In particular, the paper (and the volume) focuses on two interrelated themes: one of a changing Russia, that is anxiously trying to adapt to the uncertain dynamics within and beyond the wider Eurasian space; and the other—of an emerging complexity of new order-making regional (integration) initiatives that are poised to reshape the future of international and global order. The overarching intention of this paper and the volume is to advance the need to focus on ‘the local’, to gain a more holistic understanding of the present-day challenges and the kind of global response needed to stay attuned to the increasingly complex world.
Research Interests:
Drawing on Edkins’ (1999) interpretation of ‘politics’ and ‘the political’, this article conceptually rethinks the Eastern Partnership agenda. Part of the problem, as this article argues, is the EU’s failure to imagine a new social order,... more
Drawing on Edkins’ (1999) interpretation of ‘politics’ and ‘the political’, this article conceptually rethinks the Eastern Partnership agenda. Part of the problem, as this article argues, is the EU’s failure to imagine a new social order, which would give a relational value to the Other, and become more accommodating of their diverse and different world: and not by way of disciplining it to the EU purported standards, but rather by way of aligning differences to a mutually agreeable ‘normal’. The article thus problematises power relations as a process of ‘othering’, in order to re-conceptualise them via the key notions of differentiation conceived as distinction rather than deviation, and normalisation, seen as the interplay between different normalities. The article argues for bringing ‘the political’ (Edkins 1999) back in as an opportunity for debate and legitimation of contesting social orders.
Research Interests:
The many recent crises in Belarus are often seen through the prism of democratization, post-communist transition, and nation-and identity-building. As a rule, it is put into the context of the 1989 democratization in Central and Eastern... more
The many recent crises in Belarus are often seen through the prism of democratization, post-communist transition, and nation-and identity-building. As a rule, it is put into the context of the 1989 democratization in Central and Eastern Europe and compared with similar societal mobilization in Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004; 2014), and Kyrgyzstan (2005). This article, however, argues that while these theoretical approaches provide an important explanatory potential, they nevertheless fail to account for informal, hidden, and unstable processes presently unfolding in the Belarusian society, leading to profound change. We argue that, in the vulnerable, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world of today, our knowledge and ability to plan and achieve desirable outcomes are limited in contrast to a largely positivist or interpretivist epistemology of the mainstream theories, which conceive of the world as a closed system. In this article, we offer an alternative explanation of the many crises in Belarus by drawing on the insights of complexitythinking to suggest that (hidden) transformative change in the country is now irreversible.
Research Interests:
The global rules-based order has been in transformation for more than a decade, whilst the liberal international order has been in crisis and new international orders are emerging. Within this context, the Russian invasion of Ukraine... more
The global rules-based order has been in transformation for more than a decade, whilst the liberal international order has been in crisis and new international orders are emerging. Within this context, the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks what the Germans have called a Zeitenwende because the multi-order world is now a reality. The article outlines the main characteristics and implications of a multi-order world and outlines four categories of orders that will populate the multi-order world. The article details Putin’s vision for a Eurasian order and how his plans are received within the Eurasian order. The article offers a perspective on how the global dynamics of the new multi-order world might play out, showing that it is likely to be conflictual rather than a cooperative, and that members of the Eurasian order show little enthusiasm for Putin’s vision, resulting in an order held together by force rather than consent.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This introduction to the Special Issue problematizes the necessity to rethink governance through the lens of resilience and suggests a novel conceptualization of resilience. Building the argument on complexity-thinking, this issue... more
This introduction to the Special Issue problematizes the necessity to rethink governance through the lens of resilience and suggests a novel conceptualization of resilience. Building the argument on complexity-thinking, this issue contends that in the context of change and complex life, challenges are most efficiently dealt with, at the source, ‘locally’, to make ‘the global’ more sustainable. Accordingly, the concept of resilience as self-governance is advanced in the introduction as an overriding framework to explore its constitutive elements – identity, ‘good life’, local coping strategies and support infrastructures – which, when mobilized, can turn community into ‘peoplehood’ in the face of adversity. This conceptualization, we argue, explains what makes communities adapt and transform, and how they should be governed today. Central Eurasia, spanning from Belarus in the west, to Azerbaijan in the south and Tajikistan in the east, provides fertile grounds for exploring how resilience works in practice in times of complex change. By immersing into centuries-long traditions and philosophy, local experiences of survival, and visions for change, this introduction – along with the Special Issue – shows that governability at any level requires a substantive ‘local’ input to make ‘the global’ more enduring and resilient in a complex adaptive world
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Belarus’ domestic context and regional outlook have altered considerably, opening up opportunities for cooperation and change. This policy brief examines the EU’s approach to the country to discuss its policy success and failures, and how... more
Belarus’ domestic context and regional outlook have altered considerably, opening up opportunities for cooperation and change. This policy brief examines the EU’s approach to the country to discuss its policy success and failures, and how to make it more sustainable in the future. It advances three particular tenets, which could make Belarus more responsive, resilient and through inter-regional cooperation – more compatible: - Belarus, as a small state, prioritises a ‘balancing strategy’ with its greater regional powers. Acknowledging and engaging its geo-political complexity would make EU-Belarus cooperation more enduring - Belarus, like any other state in the eastern region, is normatively different, and requires a tailored approach to develop shared values. A more interest-driven technical cooperation may increase Belarus’ commitment and socialisation into the international system of norms and standards - The EU needs to recognise and engage with the EEU to increase its own lever...
Research Interests:
Reflections about the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and its implications for Europe and the world engendered the view that ‘resilience is dead’. In this post, Elena Korosteleva & Irina Petrova argue that what we observe today is the demise... more
Reflections about the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and its implications for Europe and the world engendered the view that ‘resilience is dead’. In this post, Elena Korosteleva & Irina Petrova argue that what we observe today is the demise of the ‘neo-liberal’ framing of resilience. Meanwhile, the resilience of human grit lives on.
Research Interests:
In an effort to address multiple challenges the EU is facing in its eastern neighbourhood, Brussels has recently published a new strategy ‘Eastern Partnership Policy beyond 2020’. Elena Korosteleva, Irina Petrova and Igor Merheim-Eyre... more
In an effort to address multiple challenges the EU is facing in its eastern neighbourhood, Brussels has recently published a new strategy ‘Eastern Partnership Policy beyond 2020’. Elena Korosteleva, Irina Petrova and Igor Merheim-Eyre reflect on the proposed changes and argue that success will depend on the EU’s ability to realise the full potential of resilience, with a particular focus on local ownership and genuine partnerships.
Research Interests:
The article examines societal fragilities and local resilience strategies in Belarus with a particular focus on the notion of peoplehood. Premised on the idea of evolving forms of agency under the Anthropocene, and the emergent... more
The article examines societal fragilities and local resilience strategies in Belarus with a particular focus on the notion of peoplehood. Premised on the idea of evolving forms of agency under the Anthropocene, and the emergent complexity-thinking in International Relations, the article draws on these approaches to societal fragilities and community resilience to understand and explain the unprecedented levels of mobilization occurring in Belarus since the disputed presidential election in August 2020. To this end, the article zooms onto the local communities to provide an analytical perspective on the study of resilience as self-organization. In line with complexity-thinking, it argues in favor of history-specific processual identities, shaped by the aspirations of a “good life,” and realized via local support infrastructures which lie at the heart of societal resilience in Belarus. Yet, the potential of all these elements to actualize into a sweeping transformative force, referred...
Research Interests:
Living in times of increasing complexity is hard; it becomes even harder with the realisation of diminishing control. How do we adapt our governance to this complexity to ensure peaceful cohabitation of the established and emergent order... more
Living in times of increasing complexity is hard; it becomes even harder with the realisation of diminishing control. How do we adapt our governance to this complexity to ensure peaceful cohabitation of the established and emergent order regimes? This paper contends that it is important to embrace complexity in full, conceptually and practically, by shifting from ‘the global’ to ‘the local’, to understand the pressure of transformational change and to prepare the ground for the emergence of more resilient and cooperative orders. We apply this complexity-thinking, using a 3P analysis, to Central Eurasia, presently a battleground of three competing order-making regimes—the EU, China and Russia. We argue that for more resilient and cooperative orders to emerge, it is essential to understand and enable ‘the local’ and embrace the region in is diversity, to facilitate a more joined-up and bottom-up governance in managing the complexity of a changing world.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Commissioned by the Office for Democratic Belarus (ODB), the Global Europe Centre (GEC), under the leadership of Professor Elena Korosteleva, conducted a survey about European and national values in Belarus in order to contribute to the... more
Commissioned by the Office for Democratic Belarus (ODB), the Global Europe Centre (GEC), under the leadership of Professor Elena Korosteleva, conducted a survey about European and national values in Belarus in order to contribute to the debate on the relations between Belarus and the European Union (EU) from the public’s perspective. The nation-wide representative survey was conducted in Belarus between 20 May and 4 June 2013 focusing on the country’s relations with the EU and the (Eurasian) Customs Union (ECU); as well as public perceptions, values, and attitudes towards the afore-mentioned entities. Detailed findings are available in the survey brief Three particular trends are observable in Belarus’ public relations: Comparative trends demonstrate a positive and substantive shift in public attitudes towards the EU; reflected in higher levels of awareness, more knowledge about EU structures and policies, more interest in EU affairs, more perceivable commonalities with the EU as a ...
Research Interests:
Commissioned by the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC), the Global Europe Centre (GEC), under the leadership of Professor Elena Korosteleva, conducted a survey about European and national values in Moldova in order to contribute to the... more
Commissioned by the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC), the Global Europe Centre (GEC), under the leadership of Professor Elena Korosteleva, conducted a survey about European and national values in Moldova in order to contribute to the debate on the relations between Moldova and the European Union (EU) from the public’s perspective. The nation-wide representative survey was conducted in Moldova between 19 October and 7 November 203 focusing on the country’s relations with the EU and the (Eurasian) Customs Union (ECU); as well as public perceptions, values, and attitudes towards the afore-mentioned entities. Detailed findings are available in the survey brief Three major trends are currently observable in the behavioural patterns of Moldova’s population: Public support of the EU and its policies (EaP) has slightly eroded which is reflected in the respondents’ perceptions, levels of interest, attitudes and behavioural preferences Moldovan respondents signal deep confusion in relation to...
Research Interests:
Commissioned by the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC), Professor Elena Korosteleva conducted focus groups about European, national and Eurasian values in Moldova in order to contribute to the debate on the relations between Moldova and the... more
Commissioned by the Slovak Atlantic Commission (SAC), Professor Elena Korosteleva conducted focus groups about European, national and Eurasian values in Moldova in order to contribute to the debate on the relations between Moldova and the European Union (EU) from the public’s perspective. Focus groups were conducted in Moldova between 28 March and 11 April 2014 focusing on the country’s relations with the EU and the (Eurasian) Customs Union (ECU); as well as public perceptions, values, and attitudes towards the afore-mentioned entities. Detailed findings are available in the survey brief enclosed. For more information please also visit: http://www.ata-sac.org/publications/qualitative-survey-make-moldova-home
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT "The countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union have exhibited remarkable diversity in their post-communist regime paths. Whereas some states have become demonstrably more democratic and have moved in the... more
ABSTRACT "The countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union have exhibited remarkable diversity in their post-communist regime paths. Whereas some states have become demonstrably more democratic and have moved in the space of fifteen years from the periphery to the centre of European politics, in others the political and economic climates seem hardly to be better, and their societies no more free, than in the final years of the Cold War. Assessing progress towards democracy in the former Eastern Bloc - or the lack of it - requires a qualitative examination of post-communist polities. This collection of articles brings together a number of perspectives, both macro and micro-analytical, on the 'quality' of democracy in post-communist Europe. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics."
Research Interests:
Since the fall of communism nearly a decade ago, a series of important changes have occurred within the party system of Belarus. On the one hand, there is a potential for party system stabilization, given relatively stable party... more
Since the fall of communism nearly a decade ago, a series of important changes have occurred within the party system of Belarus. On the one hand, there is a potential for party system stabilization, given relatively stable party competition, the acceptance of parties as legitimate political actors in the electoral game, and the existence of predictable group loyalties to them. On the other hand, one may still witness intensive vote changing, the tendency for the presidency to strengthen, and a lingering sign of reversion in Belarus's democratization. This necessitates a discussion of the extent to which these two perspectives are contradictory, and how the paradox can be explained. The study examines the nature of instability and its causes, and discusses whether vote changing may be interpreted as `quasi-volatility', which does not primarily imply a radical dealignment in voting.
Research Interests:
This book explores the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours. Based on extensive original research – including surveys, focus-groups, a study of school essays and in-depth interviews with key people in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova,... more
This book explores the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours. Based on extensive original research – including surveys, focus-groups, a study of school essays and in-depth interviews with key people in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and in Brussels - it assesses why the EU’s initiatives have received limited legitimacy in the neighbourhood.been so poorly received.
The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of 2004, and the subsequent Eastern Partnership (EaP) of 2009 heralded a new form of relations with the EU’s neighbours - partnership based on joint ownership and shared values - which would complement if not entirely replace the EU’s traditional governance framework used for enlargement. These initiatives, however, have received a mixed response from the EU’s eastern neighbours. It shows how the key elements of "partnership" have been forged mainly by the EU, rather than jointly, and examines the idea and application of external governance, and how this has been over-prescriptive and confusing.
The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of 2004, and the subsequent Eastern Partnership (EaP) of 2009 heralded a new form of relations with the EU’s neighbours - partnership based on joint ownership and shared values - which would complement if not entirely replace the EU’s traditional governance framework used for enlargement. These initiatives, however, have received a mixed response from the EU’s eastern neighbours. It shows how the key elements of "partnership" have been forged mainly by the EU, rather than jointly, and examines the idea and application of external governance, and how this has been over-prescriptive and confusing.
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, Belarusian Studies, Russian Politics, Russian Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, and 5 moreEastern Partnership, Politics of Moldova, Ukrainian Foreign Policy, EU institutions, EU foreign policy, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, securitization, and European Union, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Union for the Mediterranean, Eastern Partnership, Foreign Policy Analysis, Principal-Agent
Research Interests:
This volume offers a collective assessment of the development and impact of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership Initiative on its eastern neighbours - Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova in particular, with Russia’s... more
This volume offers a collective assessment of the development and impact of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership Initiative on its eastern neighbours - Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova in particular, with Russia’s added perspective. Founded on extensive empirical and conceptual research, the volume uniquely bridges the perspectives of all parties across the EU’s eastern border, in an attempt to understand advantages and problems related to the effective implementation of the EU policies in the eastern region. The undertaken research points to the prevalence of the top-down and conditional governance approach in EU treatment of the outsiders, which is not only Eurocentric and prescriptive in nature, but also falls short of the declared partnership principles. Without the understanding of partners’ internal dilemmas and needs, which could only be achieved through the equivalence and reciprocity of partnership, the EU would struggle to make the policy effective and legitimate in the region, and to buttress its reputation as a ‘credible force for good’ on the international arena.
This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.
This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.
Research Interests:
This book argues for the need to rethink governance through the lens of 'resilience as self-governance'. Building on complexity-thinking, it contends that in the context of change and complex life, challenges are most efficiently dealt... more
This book argues for the need to rethink governance through the lens of 'resilience as self-governance'. Building on complexity-thinking, it contends that in the context of change and complex life, challenges are most efficiently dealt with, at the source, 'locally', to make 'the global' more responsive and sustainable. Resilience as self-governance is advanced as an overriding framework to explore its constitutive elements - identity, ‘good life’, local coping strategies and support infrastructures - which, when mobilized, can turn communities into ‘peoplehood’ in the face of adversity. It is argued that these communities of relations, self-organised and self-aware of their worth, is what makes them so resilient to crises, and what helps them to transform with change; and how they should be governed today. Central Eurasia, spanning from Belarus in the west, to Azerbaijan in the south and Kyrgyzstan in the east, provides fertile grounds for exploring how resilience works in practice in times of complex change. By immersing into centuries-long traditions and philosophy, local experiences of survival, and visions for change, this book shows that governability at any level requires a substantive 'local' input to make 'the global' more enduring and resilient in a complex adaptive world. This book will be of great value to students and scholars in the fields of Politics including Eurasian politics and the various aspects of Governance. Most of the chapters in this book were published as a special issue of Cambridge Review of International Affairs
Research Interests:
This book presents a comprehensive overview of current developments in Belarus. It explores how there has been an upswelling of popular support for the idea that Belarus must change. It highlights how the old regime, aiming to retain the... more
This book presents a comprehensive overview of current developments in Belarus. It explores how there has been an upswelling of popular support for the idea that Belarus must change. It highlights how the old regime, aiming to retain the Soviet legacy, reluctant to reform, presiding over worsening economic conditions and refusing to take measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, has been confronted by increasing bottom-up and horizontal social mobilisation which demands a transformation of state-society relations and a new sense of Belarusian peoplehood. The book outlines how the current situation has developed, considers how the present demands for change are deep-seated and long-brewing trends, and reveals much detail about many aspects of the growing societal mobilisation. Overall, the book demonstrates that, although the old regime remains in power, Belarusian society has changed fundamentally, thereby bringing great hope that change will eventually come about.
Research Interests:
The Special Issue consolidates new approaches to the study of the EU’s role in the eastern neighbourhood and beyond, informed by post-structuralist traditions in international relations. More specifically, by revisiting the European... more
The Special Issue consolidates new approaches to the study of the EU’s role in the eastern neighbourhood and beyond, informed by post-structuralist traditions in international relations. More specifically, by revisiting the European Neighbourhood Policy’s agenda from the conceptual perspective of ‘the political’ and redefining the notions of ‘othering’, ‘differentiation’ and ‘normalisation’, this volume renders a new and much-needed theoretical and empirical outlook onto the policy developments and their practices. By unpacking and connecting security, regional, institutional, normative and sector-thematic policy dimensions, the book seeks to re-politicise the agenda and re-focus policy revision on understanding the fundamentals of power relations when applied to the EU external relations. In light of the compounding crises, external and internal, one can no longer afford to simply tinker around the edges of the policy content and instruments. A more radical theoretical undertaking is overdue, to re-shape, re-define and re-centre the EU relations with the eastern region especially, put in the context of the new EU’s Global Security Strategy, and the new aspirations for the 2017 European Neighbourhood summit.
Research Interests: European Studies, International Security, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, European Politics, and 2 moreEastern Partnership and European Union, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Union for the Mediterranean, Eastern Partnership, Foreign Policy Analysis, Principal-Agent
The EU continuously searches for more effective policy towards its eastern neighbourhood, which is reflected in the on-going adaptation of its existing approaches, discourses and policy strategies to the new challenges of its external... more
The EU continuously searches for more effective policy towards its eastern neighbourhood, which is reflected in the on-going adaptation of its existing approaches, discourses and policy strategies to the new challenges of its external environment. In order to understand the complexity and limitations of the EU framework under the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership Initiative (EaP) – that is, to consider the interface between policy instruments, institutional structures, and multiple agents – one needs to adopt an original analytical perspective of practices to comprehensively assess the policies' outcomes.
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, Central and Eastern Europe, European Union, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Union for the Mediterranean, Eastern Partnership, Foreign Policy Analysis, Principal-Agent, and ENP
Belarus is one of the least-studied European states to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Nevertheless, Belarus constitutes an important and sensitive border region between Russia and the western part of the continent.... more
Belarus is one of the least-studied European states to emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Nevertheless, Belarus constitutes an important and sensitive border region between Russia and the western part of the continent. In Postcommunist Belarus, a stellar group of contributors offers an important, coherent, and comparative perspective on this little-known country.
Research Interests: European Studies, European Security and Defence Policy, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, European Politics, and 6 moreEuropean Union, European Foreign and Security Policy, Politics of Belarus, EU institutions, EU foreign policy, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, securitization, Belarus, and European Union, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Union for the Mediterranean, Eastern Partnership, Foreign Policy Analysis, Principal-Agent
"The countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union have exhibited remarkable diversity in their post-communist regime paths. Whereas some states have become demonstrably more democratic and have moved in the space of fifteen years... more
"The countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union have exhibited remarkable diversity in their post-communist regime paths. Whereas some states have become demonstrably more democratic and have moved in the space of fifteen years from the periphery to the centre of European politics, in others the political and economic climates seem hardly to be better, and their societies no more free, than in the final years of the Cold War.
Assessing progress towards democracy in the former Eastern Bloc - or the lack of it - requires a qualitative examination of post-communist polities. This collection of articles brings together a number of perspectives, both macro and micro-analytical, on the 'quality' of democracy in post-communist Europe.
This volume was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics."
Assessing progress towards democracy in the former Eastern Bloc - or the lack of it - requires a qualitative examination of post-communist polities. This collection of articles brings together a number of perspectives, both macro and micro-analytical, on the 'quality' of democracy in post-communist Europe.
This volume was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics."
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, Belarusian Studies, Russian Politics, Ukrainian Politics, Democracy, and 3 morePolitics of Belarus, Quality of democracy and democratic consolidation. Parties and representative political institutions with a particular focus on legislative assemblies., and EU institutions, EU foreign policy, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, securitization
Review: 'sets a good standard for others to follow, and will be a boon to students and scholars alike.' - Slavonic and East European Review Description This book provides a thorough overview of current developments in Belarus. It... more
Review: 'sets a good standard for others to follow, and will be a boon to students and scholars alike.' - Slavonic and East European Review
Description
This book provides a thorough overview of current developments in Belarus. It looks at historical, political, economic and social changes, and at international relations, especially relations with Russian and the European Union."
Description
This book provides a thorough overview of current developments in Belarus. It looks at historical, political, economic and social changes, and at international relations, especially relations with Russian and the European Union."
Research Interests: Eastern European Studies, European Studies, Belarusian Studies, European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership, and 4 moreEuropean Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), Politics of Belarus, Central and Eastern Europe, and European Union, European Foreign Policy, European Neighbourhood Policy, Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, Union for the Mediterranean, Eastern Partnership, Foreign Policy Analysis, Principal-Agent
Drawing on complexity-thinking and one of its core principles of emergence, the chapter aims to scrutinize the often-overlooked processes of societal self-organization, and their meaning for democratic rebuilding. It argues that while the... more
Drawing on complexity-thinking and one of its core principles of emergence, the chapter aims to scrutinize the often-overlooked processes of societal self-organization, and their meaning for democratic rebuilding. It argues that while the literature on democratization, identity- and nation-building reflects some important dynamics in the post-2020 Belarusian society, the knowledge gap persists about how informal, horizontal, and bottom-up societal structures emerge and self-organize for collective action, to eventually transform into an enduring force of political change. We draw on the insights from natural sciences concerning the principles of emergence – separation, alignment, and cohesion – and apply them to the social world to examine how people's self-identification and the emergence of grassroots communities have transformed a hitherto dormant Belarusian society into a formidable network of self-sustaining collective action, and a powerful political force of change, which we term here as “peoplehood”.