Moldova: Arena of International Influences brings international perspective to Moldova's foreign relations since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Eighteen chapters analyze the policy toward Moldova of selected international actors: Belarus, Bulgaria, China, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the European Union, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the unrecognized breakaway state of Transnistria. For these international actors, Moldova functions as an arena of influences--a sphere of intersecting interests, activities and, occasionally, competition. For the first time, leading experts and practitioners from many of the countries engaged in Moldova are brought together in a common language. The result is a detailed map of the international political landscape in Moldova, a chronicle of the past two decades, and a forecast of the country's future.

This innovative study presents an in-depth political and sociological analysis of the internal power politics and imperial forms developed by the Russian neo-eurasianists and the neo-conservatives in the United States. It traces the growth of nationalism and the concept of 'Empire' in relation to the ideologies and foreign policy of both Russia and the USA. Beginning with a genealogy of the two movements, the authors present the intricacy of imperial rhetoric and nationalist ideologies in modern states compared with the distinctive definition of Empire as a politico-historical form. The extent to which these ideas have shaped the foreign policy of Russia and the USA is then related to events in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The analysis of each case provides a better understanding of the imperial character of these foreign policies in relation to their nationalist foundations. The combination of political theory and geopolitics makes this cutting-edge research a must read to all interested in the evolving discourse surrounding Empire.