Russia’s Eurasian union dream: A way forward towards multipolar world order

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/jglobfaul.9.1.0033
• Pages: 33-42
• Published date: 30 March 2022
• Date: 30 March 2022
• Author: Shahzada Rahim Abbas
• Subject Matter: Russian foreign policy,Eurasian Economic Union,neo-Eurasianism,Russian geopolitics

Journal of Global Faultlines, 2022

Vol. 9, No. 1, 33–43.

33

Russia’s Eurasian union dream: A way forward towards

multipolar world order

Shahzada Rahim Abbas1

Abstract

Since the disintegration of USSR Eurasia has gained a new geopolitical and strategic

significance. Fifteen countries emerged as result of disintegration, among which only Russian

Federation was the successor state. The post-soviet era, especially the era of 1990s, was a

political and economic trauma for the Russian Federation and the post-soviet space. But

Eurasianists were well aware of American unilateralism and the American “Grand Chessboard

strategy” that was solely aimed at encircling Russian geography. With these concerns, the

Eurasianists advised the Russian political and military elites to initiate the Eurasian Union

Project. This paper briefly sketches Russian historical Eurasian dream, which is deeply rooted

in Russian imperial history, and discusses the importance of Eurasian philosophy for the

political and economic stability of Russia-Eurasia. The paper also illustrates the challenges

and opportunities for the Eurasian integration and for the establishment of a multipolar

world order. The paper also briefly outlines the geopolitical rationale behind the Eurasian

project as a key objective of the contemporary Russian foreign policy and geopolitics.

Key words: Russian foreign policy, Eurasian Economic Union, neo-Eurasianism, Russian

geopolitics

Introduction

The fall of Soviet Union was not only a calamity for Russia but greatly impacted the peace and

stability of Eurasia – especially the post-soviet space. It was the ascension of President Boris

Yeltsin to the Russian presidency that led to the disintegration of Soviet Union and gave birth

to the fragile commonwealth of the independent states (Shlapentokh, 2018). Moreover, the

secret Belavezha Accords signed by the President Boris Yeltsin with Belarus and Ukraine, on

American dictation, that brought economic and security consequences for Russia in the years

to come (Salenko, 2015). The fragile Commonwealth of the independent states failed to res-

cue the post-soviet space from economic and security apocalypse. In the face of dire eco-

nomic and security challenges, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed the

establishment of Eurasian Union modeled on the pattern of the European Union (Mostafa,

2013). Basically, he proposed the reintegration of the post-soviet space with Russia in the

wake of crisis in order to ensure the future security of Eurasia (Mostafa, 2013). His proposal

was cordially encouraged by Russia, Armenia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan.

It cannot be denied that the relationship of Russia with the countries in the Eurasian

region is rooted in the history of shared identity (Hierman, 2018). The Eurasianists want to

construct a new ideology that will ensure the identitarian unity among the Eurasian com-

munities. For Eurasianists, Russia can shape a new binding ideology to reclaim the geo-

graphical and cultural sphere of the post-soviet space (Bassin, 1991). With the beginning of

Vladimir Putin’s presidency in Russia, Eurasianists received both political and economic

support from the government to construct the Eurasian integration project (Bassin, 2017).

Basically, the ideology of Eurasianism can be traced in the writings of famous Russian exiles

in the 1920s, who speculated about the Eurasian ideology. A group of Soviet exiles such as

DOI:10.13169/jglobfaul.9.1.0033