http://ca.news.yahoo.com/russias-putin-says-wants-build-eurasian-union-222139037.html
Less than a week after Russia's current Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, announced that he will be running for Presidential elections in 2012, he has already proposed his first foreign policy objective: to bring together former Soviet states into a "Eurasian Union," with primary aim to coordinate "economic and currency policy" among its members.
Putin, who previously called the collapse of USSR in 1991 "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century," asserts that this initiative is not an attempt to recreate the Soviet Union. Instead, he criticizes the inefficiency of the World Trade Organization, pointing out that it will be more effective for Russia to form a Customs Union that will remove all barriers to trade, capital and labour movement than to join the WTO. Belarus and Kazakhstan have already agreed to be on board with Putin. In order for other countries to join, Russia can offer incentives such as cheap natural gas, which might be the exact attraction needed for Ukraine to become a member.
In order to distinguish the Eurasian Union from the Soviet Union, Putin welcomes other new nations to join. According to Putin, the Eurasian Union will become European Union's partner in creating a common economic space: "Membership in the Eurasian Union, apart from direct economic benefits, will enable its members to integrate into Europe faster and from a much stronger position."
There is no doubt that due to the debt crisis in Europe which has occupied the mind of European Union for the past year, Putin's proposal comes as a 'solution' for other nations to join Russia in a more stable Union than the one Europe has today. While the European Union ignores the Eastern periphery due to its internal problems, Putin seizes his chance. The fact that this opportunity to reconstruct the Russian sphere comes at a vital time in Putin's career, right before he is to emerge on his third term, will further encourage Putin to push for its creation. It seems that the troubles of the EU can become the main contributing factor to the revival of Russian dominance- even if only regional (at least for now.)
Despite the convincing echo of the aims of Eurasian Union, Putin's plan resembles former USSR more than he admits. Even the newspaper where he proposes the establishment of Eurasian Union, Izvestia, was once the official Soviet government newspaper. The creation of this body would be regarded by the entire global community as a major threat for peace and stability.
-Inga
I think any 'Union' dominated by Russia would turn into yet another attempt at regaining the imperialist glory of lore. Maybe regional cooperation could yield mutually beneficial solutions to problems like trade, migration, and economic diversification, but I can't help but picture it as "Repression 101" where Putin doles out gold stars and demerits to his pupils.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm too pessimistic. But I think if the regimes in the former Soviet Republics learned anything from Arab Spring, it's that their survival depends on the perfect balance between authoritarian control and the veil of democracy they use to hide it. Who better could teach this skill than Vladimir Putin himself?
I went to a panel discussion on this very issue at Columbia last week and I think Graeme Robertson nailed it exactly when he said "Authoritarianism is glamorous again. Putin has literally made authoritarianism sexy." Another article in the Washington Post hailed Putin's saavy PR campaign as "political genius."
I know this is a long comment, but I guess what I'm mainly getting at is that while it seems like former Soviet Republics would see right through this imperialistic ploy, I'm not so sure they would be opposed.
I think I'll leave you with a collection of my favorite Putin pictures.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/09/vladimir-putin-action-man/100147/
True, but if Europe is going to the dogs, it may be nice in the short term to have some sort of "Imperialist protection" that every week seems to working so well domestically in Russia. Sure, as Inga wrote there are other aims for this union, but in the short term it is advantageous for all parties. As politics is all about the short term, everyday Europe gets economically weaker, or appear to be, it becomes more likely that more countries will join up to this union.
ReplyDeleteRoy.
It is indeed true that the former Soviet Republics are likely to join the Union even though they can see right through Putin's long-term prospects, but it is also important to provide an explanation to why they would decide to do so (apart from economic incentives, if Putin will decide to take use of them) even after having previously been under Soviet occupation. In reality, a major part of Russia's older generation longs back to the years of Soviet dominance. To them, the Soviet era represents, among pride and nationalism, a higher quality of life than they possess today. At the very minimum, people had access to basic necessities such as food, health care, shelter and clothes. Hard work was rewarded with free apartment ownership and electronics products including German refrigerators (luxury at that time!) and Samsung TVs produced in Korean (i.e. best quality!) It is thus not a surprise but an irony that while the rest of the world fears the return of the Soviet Union, people who were part of it during its existence, desire to have the same living standards as they were familiar with prior to the year 1991.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, aware of Russia's current military modernization and overall economic stability despite periodic variations (that are inevitable due to Russia’s participation in the global economy), it is perhaps even more advantageous for nations to be part of a Eurasian Union led by emerging Russia rather than the weakened and often divided European Union. Moreover, if nations fear that Russia will become the world’s next hegemony, what can be better for them than to ally with the emerging power right now and begin to strengthen their relations as soon as possible? In other words, I do agree with you, Roy, however, in my opinion the plan for the Eurasian Union is a long-term prospect with potential for growth and continuous expansion. Putin’s proposal came shortly after he announced that he will be running for the presidential elections in 2012 not only to instantaneously strengthen his own position as a candidate but also because this is the ideal time to make countries join the Union, while Putin can easily demonstrate the failing European Union. In conclusion, the establishment of the Eurasian Union must take place in the short-run, while the goal will be to ensure its steadfast existence in the long-term.
P.S: Rachel, those pictures are великолепные!
-Inga