Russia, the West and Eastern Europe: Lenin’s long shadow

This year, it will be a century since Lenin led the Bolsheviks to power in Russia; and 2016 marked a quarter of a century since the collapse of the Soviet Union that he created. The post-Soviet states have developed in different ways, but they are all dogged by problems born of their history. Russia still feels the phantom limb of its lost empire. And 25 years on, the West has no clear strategy for dealing even with the six former Soviet states that lie in Europe (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine). The six countries now find themselves in a contested space, between a wary EU and NATO that would like to see them prosperous and stable but will not embrace them fully as members; and an assertive Russia willing to keep them in its orbit by force if necessary, but unable or unwilling to support them economically. This is a bad result for all parties.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The EU's Eastern Partnership [What Think Tanks are thinking] (EP: EPRS, November 2016) http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-eus-eastern-partnership-what-think-tanks-are-thinking/

ESO: Background information: Russia and security in Europe [What Think Tanks are thinking] http://www.europeansources.info/record/russia-and-security-in-europe-what-think-tanks-are-thinking/

CSIS: The Kremlin Playbook. Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe [PDF] https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/160928_Conley_KremlinPlaybook_Web.pdf

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