Eurasian Space Research Articles

Forging a Unitary State: Russia’s Management of the Eurasian Space, 1650–1850, by John LeDonne

Forging a Unitary State: Russia’s Management of the Eurasian Space, 1650–1850, by John LeDonne

The Future of Eurasia: In the Vice between Transatlanticism and Chinese Expansion?

Eurasia that encompasses Russia and major countries of the former Soviet Union currently finds itself squeezed between Transatlantic alliance whose influence dominates in political and economic life of the UK and EU, and growing power of Asia, primarily China and a number of other emerging economies of the Asia-Pacific region. To sustain a leading world and regional role, Russia has to define its place and primary goals in Eurasian space. The article examines different scenarios of Eurasian integration, various Eurasianism concepts and possible future of Russian influence in Eurasia.

Integration Processes within the Eurasian Economic Union: Kazakhstan’s Narratives

Integration processes in the Eurasian space are ambiguously assess both by officials and an expert community of the member countries. Thus, there is still a discussion in Kazakhstan and various narratives are being formed concerning the expediency of the country’s presence in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the advantages and challenges associated with this participation. The article deals with the main narratives that are presenting in Kazakhstan and describing the integration processes within the EAEU — official and expert (both critical about the EAEU and supporting Eurasian integration). The analysis conducted in the article is based on the understanding of the narrative as a “statement-result”, defined by its structure (coherence between key concepts). The article shows that all narratives about the EAEU, present in the Kazakhstani discourse, have a similar structure, formed by the concepts of “independence”, “integration”, “politics” and “economics”. The differences between the narratives are determined by the emphasis on either the “independencepolitics” or “integration-economics” constellations (linkages), and the proposed format of regionalization of Kazakhstan within Central Asia or Eurasia.

The Role of Small States in Integration Projects in the Eurasian Space: The Case of Armenia

The geopolitical interpretation of political processes taking place in the South Caucasus region ignores the possibility of an independent external policy of the smaller states that do not possess considerable military or economic power. Nevertheless, small states build their relations with Russia, the EU and other actors in accordance with the national political discourse that does not often correspond to the realist paradigm of international relations. The case of Armenia exemplifies membership in integration projects often described in academic literature as competing ones. As a consequence, the importance of closer research of internal political processes and factors that influence the decision to join one or another regional project increases. Cooperation with the EU, which has been strongly connected to partners’ commitment to democratic norms, human rights reforms and rule of law, was considered as an important part of their external policy by all the three South Caucasus countries. For the moment, the Eurasian Economic Union does not designate the normative component of cooperation with member countries. In this sense, the Eurasian project has still to define itself.

The landscape – analog approach to optimization of steppe nature management

The attempt to analyze morphological, genetic, and typological landscape-analogs in Steppe Eurasia enveloping the vast transcontinental space of Inner Eurasia from the Danube basin to the Amur River basin has been made for the first time in the paper. Despite considerable provincial differences of a latitudinal row of steppe and forest-steppe regions connected with a degree of climate continentality, geological-geomorphological peculiarities, high altitude of low-laying, elevated and upland plateau-like plains within the all steppe Eurasian space, thanks to the comparative-geographical method, we can define landscape-analogs of a different type that are distant from each other at thousands kilometers. Steppe landscapes of Eurasia have a long and rich history of economic development, having the standard features of zonal nature management, anisochronous in time for hundreds, sometimes thousands, years. Steppe nature management experience in different longitudinal sectors can be used to solve zonal ecological problems of which countries and regions of Steppe Eurasia have met.

REPRODUCTIVE AND MIGRATION ATTITUDES OF CONTEMPORARY YOUTH OF THE EAEU STATES (RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN: A CASE STUDY)

The article is devoted to the current aspects of demographic development in the EAEU member states in the context of studying the specifics of the reproductive and migratory behavior of young people in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The modern generation of young people in post-Soviet countries over the past three decades has been influenced by various factors that have radically transformed their views on family, childbirth and migration. Their attitudes towards reproductive and migratory behavior will dominate the future demographic trends not only in each of the studied countries, but also in the Eurasian space as a whole. Therefore, a detailed study of the attitudes of the young and educated generation is the most important task of demographic and sociological sciences. Based on the results of a sociological survey conducted using a unified methodology, the article examines the features of reproductive and migratory behavior in countries at different stages of the “demographic transition.” It reveals the peculiarities of the respondents’ attitude from the three states to official marriage, age preferences for starting a family and giving birth to their first child. Reproductive judgments regarding anticipated and ideal number of children are identified. The use of the ranking method allowed to detect ​​the normative childbearing models in the three countries and the differences between them. The conclusion states that in all the states in question, the prevailing socio-economic conditions are an obstacle to the implementation of the existing ideal reproductive attitudes. The gender peculiarities of the views of young people in the three countries on extramarital unions, reproductive patterns and “planned childlessness” were noted. The article demonstrates that, with regard to the results of the study, in the next 25 to 30 years families in Russia will likely have a small number of children, in Kazakhstan—an average number, and reproductive behavior in Kyrgyzstan will likely retain its tendency towards having many children. The article also contains conclusions about specific migration attitudes based on the replies to questions about the preferred place to apply professional skills, create a family and have children. The dependence of migration attitudes on gender and country of residence has been revealed. Based on empirical data, the groups of respondents characterized by pragmatic, patriotic and antipatriotic migratory behavior have been identified. It was determined that young people who live in Kyrgyzstan are more focused on moving to a new place of residence, while all respondents are quite cosmopolitan in regard to the place of application of their professional skills, and students are most patriotic about the place to start a family.

CONFLICTS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS IN THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF POLITICAL INTEGRATION PROCESSES IN THE EURASIAN SPACE

The article examines the conflicts between Russia and the Republic of Belarus in the oil and gas sector, presents their background, dynamics and consequences (2004-2019). The authors examine the historical, political and economic relations between the two states. The analysis of some treaties contributing to the development of integration of Russia and Belarus in the Eurasian space is carried out. Against the background of unfolding integration, conflict tensions are growing in relations between the two states in the economic and political sphere. The article presents the true interests, motives and strategy of behavior of Russia and the Republic of Belarus in the oil and gas conflict. Based on the full identification of the interests and motives of the two parties, the authors propose an alternative way to resolve this conflict. When studying the specifics of conflict relations between Russia and the Republic of Belarus, the authors used the systemic and institutional approaches, the case study method. Particular attention is paid to the specifics and nature of the course of conflicts. It is emphasized that the core of this conflict between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus is based on the economic problems of bilateral relations between Russia and Belarus in the field of oil and gas supplies. The purpose of the study is to determine an alternative way of resolving the conflict between Russia and the Republic of Belarus, based on the full identification of the interests and motives of the parties. Against the backdrop of unfolding integration, conflict tensions are growing in relations between the two states, not only in the economic but also in the political sphere. The article describes the true interests, motives and strategy of behavior of Russia and the Republic of Belarus in this conflict. Russia's interests boil down to obtaining a high cost for the production and export of oil, to deepening the integration of the EAEU member states. The Republic of Belarus is interested in raising prices for oil and gas transit through its territory, as well as in developing a multilateral foreign policy, not limited only to cooperation with Russia and the EAEU countries. The lack of results of long-term bilateral negotiations on this issue shows the need to find alternative options for its resolution. The authors see the solution to the problem in mediation. The involvement of qualified conflict experts, professional mediators, lawyers will help not only to reduce the dissatisfaction of the conflicting parties, but also to develop a plan of joint actions.

KEY TRENDS DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE "ONE BELT AND ONE ROAD" INITIATIVE

At the "One Belt and One Road" forum held in Beijing on May 14-15, 2017, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping formulated the basic principles of the "Chinese new vision of globalization". These are the principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, social order and respect for the interests of all countries along the way. Dialogue, not confrontation, partnership, not rivalry. Within the framework of the project, China is creating an open platform for cooperation and a favorable investment environment. The most important component of globalization and economic growth is trade. It is on the basis of these assumptions that China calls for protecting multilateral trade relations and facilitating the simplification of customs and transit procedures. Investment "outside" will allow China not only to significantly expand the export market, but also to become a strong argument for the internationalization of the Chinese currency. In general, we are talking about maximizing the use of integration processes in the Eurasian space for the development of China's national economy. At the same time, China for the first time provided a strategic program for the creation of a land trade route, aimed at completely reformatting trade and economic processes on the continent, creating completely new geopolitical and geo-economic ties. The ongoing processes of globalization are gradually transforming the very concept of "landlocked country" into the definition of"country connected by land transport arteries". Keywords: "One Belt, One Road" initiative, Globalization and regionalization, development of trade relations in Eurasia, international transport corridors, integration with national projects.

Main trends in combating transnational extremism and terrorism of regional and non-regional actors

The object of the research of this article is new trends in the spread of ideas of radicalism among young people in the conditions of modern geopolitical realities in Central Asia, taking into account international practice. The purpose of the article: to conduct a comprehensive scientific study aimed at identifying the causes of the spread of the ideological influence of transnational religious extremist organizations on the youth of the Central Asian countries and to prepare recommendations for the state structures of the Republic of Kazakhstan that form the system of regional and national security, taking into account the analysis of international experience and new trends in this area. Research methods: system approach, general historical methods, institutional and structural-functional analysis, level-sector analysis, scenario forecast and interdisciplinary approach, etc. The study identified effective measures to combat radicalism; studied the impact of geopolitical contradictions in the Eurasian space on the radicalization of young people in order to ensure the national and strategic interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan; analyzed the main areas of cooperation with international organizations to combat the spread of radical extremism, in order to identify opportunities to improve their effectiveness. The results obtained allow us to present recommendations and forecast estimates aimed at anticipating threats to national and regional security for state and non-state structures of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Key words: new trends, extremism, radicalism, terrorism, Central Asia.

L’organisation de cooperation de Shanghai (OCS) dans la Nouvelle Asie: une generalisation d’apres-guerre?

This article analyzes the concept of «New Asia» and the role of the SCO on it. The emergence of the “Shanghai spirit” сconsidered in the context of a strategic change in the post-bipolar period. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the main milestones in the formation and development of the SCO and to study its potential as a regional system that fills the strategic vacuum in the Eurasian space. Special attention paid to the expansion of the SCO, the role of its partners and observers. This analysis proves that a platform for discussion and common decision-making is being created. Article attempts to give a conceptual framework of the concept of “New Asia” in the context of an analysis of the process of searching and developing solutions of common interest throughout this global space. A study of the political results of the SCO development process reveals SCO has no hostile intentions, but on the contrary creates an Asian space for member states. The space where the process of regional construction of neighboring states, the construction of a sustainable one, with which one can count on the search for common solutions and the subsequent implementation of common tasks are underway. At the same time, cooperation with the structures created earlier is also developing. In Europe, regional cooperation began after the Second World War, in African countries after the process of decolonization, Latin America has been in search of regional identity for a century and a half since its decolonization. One of the conclusions of this article is that the new Sino-post-Soviet Asia after the Cold War has a common historical and political basis for the formation of the region. A particular institutional illustration of this process is seen through the influence of the SCO. The SCO confirms the emergence of New Asia within the existing conceptual and contextual framework and offers other hypotheses to designate a modern region beyond Asia. The article raises a controversial question – what effective evidence of a causal relationship between post-war regionalization and regionalization of recent decades can be cited? Key words: SCO, “New Asia”, regional construction, cooperation.

Rail Transport Corridors of the Organisation for Co-operation of Railways

International transport corridors are part of the global transport system and are an important part of the activities of the Organisation for Co-operation of Railways2. The development activities in the Eurasian space are aimed at modernising and developing rail transport by upgrading the technical and operational parameters of the corridors in order to improve the competitiveness of railways in freight transport in Asia and Europe. These corridors are widely used to plan and organise the routing of container trains in international traffic between the OSJD member states. Today, nearly 300 container trains are in continuous operation. The aim of the article is to present the activities to date in the development of corridors, their role and importance in rail transport in the area of the member states of the Organisation for Co-operation of Railways. The article presents issues related to the development and freight transport on 13 international rail transport corridors from the Eurasian railway area. New corridor solutions were highlighted, as well as the New Silk Road3 which is part of China’s broader so-called One Belt, One Road Initiative concept. It is a global infrastructure plan developed in China and implemented in more than 100 countries, mainly in countries referred to as emerging markets. Keywords: international transport corridor, rail transport corridor, indicators for transport corridors, New Silk Road

Features of the implementation of the unified transport policy in the Eurasian space

Features of the implementation of the unified transport policy in the Eurasian space

Institutionalization of Counter-Terrorism Cooperation in the Eurasian Area: Current Issues and Prospects

The objective is to define the main parameters and current state of the institutionalization of international anti-terrorist activities in the Eurasian area. At the same time, the authors focus is on the institutional and legal aspects of institutionalizing the fight against terrorism in formats of CIS, CSTO, SCO. Also, the article defines and characterizes the problematic field of the stable system formation for interaction between different anti-terrorist structures in the Eurasian space in the context of existing institutionalization models of anti-terrorist cooperation (UN, NATO, EU, etc.). Authors justified the assumptions about the institutionalization and possible prospects of the Eurasian anti-terrorist initiative and the role of Russia in its implementation.

ТРУДОВЫЕ МИГРАНТЫ КАК РЕСУРС ДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКОГО РАЗВИТИЯ РОССИИ И РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАЗАХСТАН

The article discusses the features of the demographic development of Russia and Kazakhstan in modern conditions and the medium term. The scientific problem of the study is to identify the features of the current stage and prospects of demographic development and the contribution of migration to the formation of the population and labor resources of Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was revealed that Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan became the two largest countries for the reception of migrants in the Eurasian space. The prerequisites for large-scale and active labor migration to these states are demographic trends, growing labor requirements and the relatively successful economic development of the two countries. The key labor donors for both countries are currently Central Asian states. So, between the countries of the region on the one hand, Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the other hand, the Eurasian migration corridor has formed, which is currently one of the largest on a global scale. In both countries, it is necessary to strengthen the direction of migration policy associated with attracting labor migrants as a resource for demographic development. Despite the temporary stay in the host countries, many labor migrants pass into the category of permanent residents of Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Russia, as the main host country, has not yet fully benefited from the demographic advantages of the Euro-Asian migration corridor. The country's migration policy remains quite tough and inadequate in the demographic situation. Although the approach seems to be declared at the state level that migration should be one of the development resources, many obstacles to the integration of migrants, including migrants from Central Asian countries, the main donor region, remain in the system of migration policy itself, in its mechanisms and implementation tools. The Republic of Kazakhstan, although it has not yet encountered the demographic problem in a form like Russia, can already consider labor migration as a resource for future development in pragmatic interests. It is noted that both Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan, as countries receiving labor migrants, should emphasize in their migration policy the integration of part of labor migrants into the host society.

ТРУДОВЫЕ МИГРАНТЫ КАК РЕСУРС ДЕМОГРАФИЧЕСКОГО РАЗВИТИЯ РОССИИ И РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАЗАХСТАН

The article discusses the features of the demographic development of Russia and Kazakhstan in modern conditions and the medium term. The scientific problem of the study is to identify the features of the current stage and prospects of demographic development and the contribution of migration to the formation of the population and labor resources of Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was revealed that Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan became the two largest countries for the reception of migrants in the Eurasian space. The prerequisites for large-scale and active labor migration to these states are demographic trends, growing labor requirements and the relatively successful economic development of the two countries. The key labor donors for both countries are currently Central Asian states. So, between the countries of the region on the one hand, Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the other hand, the Eurasian migration corridor has formed, which is currently one of the largest on a global scale. In both countries, it is necessary to strengthen the direction of migration policy associated with attracting labor migrants as a resource for demographic development. Despite the temporary stay in the host countries, many labor migrants pass into the category of permanent residents of Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Russia, as the main host country, has not yet fully benefited from the demographic advantages of the Euro-Asian migration corridor. The country's migration policy remains quite tough and inadequate in the demographic situation. Although the approach seems to be declared at the state level that migration should be one of the development resources, many obstacles to the integration of migrants, including migrants from Central Asian countries, the main donor region, remain in the system of migration policy itself, in its mechanisms and implementation tools. The Republic of Kazakhstan, although it has not yet encountered the demographic problem in a form like Russia, can already consider labor migration as a resource for future development in pragmatic interests. It is noted that both Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan, as countries receiving labor migrants, should emphasize in their migration policy the integration of part of labor migrants into the host society.

Cooperation and subcontracting enterprises as a form of deepening the process of integration within the Eurasian Economic Union

The article considers such forms of integration between enterprises as subcontracting and cooperation, designed to increase the industrial potential, activate the processes of restructuring industries and move them to a qualitatively new level. The purpose of the study is to identify the features and trends of the process of integration of enterprises through the mechanism of subcontracting and cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and to substantiate the prospects for its further development.The paper describes the degree of development of national subcontracting markets in the countries that are part of the Eurasian Economic Union, and identifies the features of national systems for supporting cooperation and subcontracting processes. The authors carry out the analysis of the dynamics of cooperative supplies between the EAEU member states in the sectoral context, as well as the analysis of structural shifts in trade in intermediate goods in the context of the participating countries. The latter found a shift in the final links of the cooperative chains of product value formation in the EAEU space, which indicates the deepening of integration processes. The article considers the problems of information, financial and regulatory support for the development of subcontracting and cooperation. The paper determines the reasons that hinder the integration processes in the EAEU. The results of the study can be used in the development of an industrial strategy and integration policy in the Eurasian space.

Low rise residential construction as the basis of building industry innovative development

The article analyzes the current situation in Russian construction industry associated with the low innovation activity at all levels of construction sphere. Among the many reasons for the technological low innovative ability to technological change in construction industry, the authors outline reasons that might radically and positively influence the situation in domestic construction within the first half of the 21st century. The object of the study is the "construction system" concept, which is proposed to be identified as a main link of building innovations that promotes or, accordingly hinders construction objects production. When considering this concept, it becomes obvious that the critical link of innovation is concentrated in the concept of "structural framework" and related technologies for the production of construction objects. It is concluded that the main obstacle to the construction industry innovative development is the conservatism of building frames structural solutions and the corresponding technologies of the construction systems which are oriented to multi-storey housing construction and the main priorities of such construction are concentrated in mega-cities. The requirements for living environment, architectural diversity, residential building layouts, «green building» principles, energy efficiency, economy and internal comfort of housing are being raised. The paper emphasizes that existing building systems, especially in megacities, is not able to solve demographic problems and promote a healthy and safe life for people. The authors suggest that in the near future the turn to other priorities of housing construction and the transition to a new technological order with the help of industrial innovative low-rise residential construction systems for development of the Eurasian space of the country on the "linear city" concept base.

Public Internet Governance Institutes: Comparative Analysis of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan are among the highly developed countries in the UN e-Government Development Index. With a high rate of digitalization of public administration, solving the problems of citizens' access to the Internet and developing the electronic services sector, these countries differ from each other in the design of a digitalization policy. The structure of digitalization projects in these countries includes all the necessary components — strategy, coordination, evaluation, intervention, but it is distinguished by a focus on digital change and a political infrastructure that ensures technology interference in the public sphere. Among the significant factors of digitalization policy in the described cases, the idea of sovereignty related to the Internet and digital technologies stands out. The general policy of the countries included in the Eurasian space of cooperation is expressed by the principle of “digital sover eignty”. The article analyses the general understanding of the principle of “digital sovereignty” and the various strategies for its implementation — “multilateral interaction”, “stakeholder cooperation” and “centralized management”, as well as the institutions of management that provide them.

The Next Tasks of Russia’s Macroeconomic Policy on the Eurasian Space

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Foundations of Modern Eurasianism in Russian Political Discourse

The growing integration processes in the Eurasian space confirm the geopolitical place and role of this region in modern international relations. Thus it becomes more important to understand the basic postulates of the Eurasianism concept for the development of national and geopolitical interests of Russia, as well as to study the process of evolution of the main provisions of classical Eurasianism in the foundations of modern Russian neo-Eurasianism, as well as to determine the main stages of this process.The work is based on the analysis of publications of Russian neo-Eurasianism representatives, scientific works of foreign and domestic researchers of this phenomenon in the Russian political discourse.The geopolitical vector of the Eurasian concept is becoming the most relevant at the present stage in the context of increased interest in the geopolitical discourse and research of interaction, the “clash of civilizations”.For the modern Russian political discourse, the Eurasian theme has become one of the most promising foreign policy vectors. At present, we can observe how the theoretical concept of classic Eurasianism is reflected in Russia’s foreign policy. The Eurasian project began to be implemented from theory into political practice.