This book presents a ground-breaking comparative study of the bilateral relations of all 27 EU member states with Russia and an assessment of their impact on the EU's efforts to conduct a coherent and effective policy towards its most important neighbour. While there has been a lot of research on European foreign policy, there has been much less on the role that national foreign policies play in it. Based on a common analytical framework, this book offers a detailed analysis of 'national perspectives on Russia' and how they interact with and affect policymaking at the EU-level. The authors provide deep insights into the relationship between individual states and Russia looking at a range of policy areas: economics, trade, energy, security, culture and education. They are not only interested in examining policy failure but also probing the possibilities of seeing national foreign policies and the bilateralism with third parties that they often entail as a potentially positive resource for the European Union. As Russia is an example of a particularly hard case for EU foreign policy, this book yields important insights concerning the possibilities as well as limits of developing a common EU policy in the future. It will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, EU Studies, Russian politics, foreign policy studies and international politics.

This book presents a ground-breaking comparative study of the bilateral relations of all 27 EU member states with Russia and an assessment of their impact on the EU's efforts to conduct a coherent and effective policy towards its most important neighbour. While there has been a lot of research on European foreign policy, there has been much less on the role that national foreign policies play in it. Based on a common analytical framework, this book offers a detailed analysis of 'national perspectives on Russia' and how they interact with and affect policymaking at the EU-level. The authors provide deep insights into the relationship between individual states and Russia looking at a range of policy areas: economics, trade, energy, security, culture and education. They are not only interested in examining policy failure but also probing the possibilities of seeing national foreign policies and the bilateralism with third parties that they often entail as a potentially positive resource for the European Union. As Russia is an example of a particularly hard case for EU foreign policy, this book yields important insights concerning the possibilities as well as limits of developing a common EU policy in the future. It will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, EU Studies, Russian politics, foreign policy studies and international politics.

Why have the European Union and the Russian Federation encountered severe difficulties in developing their relationship? Why haven't the parties lived up to the initial promise and enthusiasm of the early 1990s? Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this book provides a practical answer to these questions whilst linking the issues to International Relations theorizing. Taking into account both the role of ideas and power, the book links the topic with three variants of mainstream theorizing: the English School, (neoliberal) institutionalism and constructivism. In the process a multi-causal framework that looks for points of convergence between different paradigms in the study of IR is developed. Providing an overview, history and explanation of the problems of institutionalization in EU-Russia relations during the post-Cold War era, this book is vital reading for students and scholars of the EU and Russia, European studies, European security and Russian foreign policy. It will also be of major interest to scholars of International Relations theory.

Why have the European Union and the Russian Federation encountered severe difficulties in developing their relationship? Why haven't the parties lived up to the initial promise and enthusiasm of the early 1990s?

Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this book provides a practical answer to these questions whilst linking the issues to International Relations theorizing. Taking into account both the role of ideas and power, the book links the topic with three variants of mainstream theorizing: the English School, (neoliberal) institutionalism and constructivism. In the process a multi-causal framework that looks for points of convergence between different paradigms in the study of IR is developed.

Providing an overview, history and explanation of the problems of institutionalization in EU-Russia relations during the post-Cold War era, this book is vital reading for students and scholars of the EU and Russia, European studies, European security and Russian foreign policy. It will also be of major interest to scholars of International Relations theory.

Trust is a core concept in International Relations (IR), representing a key ingredient in state relations. It was only relatively recently that IR scholars began to probe what trust really is, how it can be studied, and how it affects state relations. In the process three distinct ways of theorising trust in IR have emerged: trust as a rational choice calculation, as a social phenomenon or as a psychological dimension. Trust in International Relations explores trust through these different lenses using case studies to analyse the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The case studies cover relations between: United States and India ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries Finland and Sweden USA and Egypt The European Union and Russia Turkey's relations with the West This book provides insights with real-world relevance in the fields of crisis and conflict management, and will be of great interest for students and scholars of IR, security studies and development studies who are looking to develop a more sophisticated understanding of how different theories of trust can be used in different situations.

Trust is a core concept in International Relations (IR), representing a key ingredient in state relations. It was only relatively recently that IR scholars began to probe what trust really is, how it can be studied, and how it affects state relations. In the process three distinct ways of theorising trust in IR have emerged: trust as a rational choice calculation, as a social phenomenon or as a psychological dimension. Trust in International Relations explores trust through these different lenses using case studies to analyse the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The case studies cover relations between: United States and India ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries Finland and Sweden USA and Egypt The European Union and Russia Turkey's relations with the West This book provides insights with real-world relevance in the fields of crisis and conflict management, and will be of great interest for students and scholars of IR, security studies and development studies who are looking to develop a more sophisticated understanding of how different theories of trust can be used in different situations.

This important text provides readers with a systematic and comprehensive overview of the historic and ever-evolving relationship between Russia and the European Union, and on that basis discusses what the future of relations could look like. The EU's policy towards Russia can be regarded as one of the toughest tests of the credibility of its external relations, and in examining the dynamics of the relationship, this book poses essential questions about the EU's ability to sustain itself as a meaningful entity in world politics. Written by two experts in the field, it analyses the political and institutional development of EU-Russia relations from three perspectives: European studies, Russian studies and International Relations, including Foreign Policy Analysis. The relationship between the European Union and Russia is of considerable importance to both partners, but whilst there have been many moments of co-operation between the two, tensions have never been far from the surface and the conflict over Ukraine brought it to a historical nadir. Both have taken steps to strengthen their relationship, but diplomatic stagnation and the challenge of furthering common economic, political, social, and environmental objectives have proved increasingly testing to relations over time. This important text provides readers with a systematic and comprehensive overview of the historic and ever-evolving relationship between Russia and the European Union, suitable for students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in European Studies, Russian Studies and International Relations theory.