Debate has recently grown about the Russian Federation’s possible decolonisation in the future. Despite this, it is important to remember just how closely married Moscow’s current system is to empire. Spanning over centuries, this model continues to enrich the elite to the detriment of the population.
Belarus continues to play a low-level yet crucial part in the ongoing war in Ukraine. While the Russian military sends troops to the country, it is also firing missiles at Ukraine from Belarusian territory. It is increasingly clear that the very independence of the country is now under threat.
Moscow’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine is speciously presented as a “clash of civilisations.” While Putin continues to stress Russia’s apparent uniqueness in relation to the “collective West”, it is ultimately western ideas that are powering his neo-imperial project.
The war in Ukraine has resulted in unprecedented sanctions being placed on Russia. Now confronted by a lack of access to traditionally lucrative markets in Europe, Moscow has turned to China to offset these issues. However, such a shift is naturally full of risks.
The consequences of Russia’s invasion are visible not only in Ukraine. The Kremlin has set off or exploited a series of crises that face most European countries.
The invasion by Russian forces of Ukraine from the north, south and east – with the initial aim to take the capital Kyiv – has changed our region, and indeed our world, forever.
Only a year ago we witnessed the second Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It took at least 5,000 lives and significantly shifted the geopolitics in the South Caucuses.
This special issue aims to honour the plight of Belarusians whose democratic choice made in August 2020 was shamelessly snubbed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The Black Sea region is quickly becoming a geopolitical battleground which is gaining the interest of major powers, regional players and smaller countries – and the stakes are only getting higher.
This issue is dedicated to the 10 year anniversary of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership as well as the 30 years since the 1989 revolutions in Central Europe.
In the eastern parts of the European continent, 1918 is remembered not only as the end of the First World War, but also saw the emergence of newly-independent states and the rise of geopolitical struggles which are felt until this day.
It often seems, at least from the outside, that Belarus remains isolated from the West and very static in its transformation. Yet, despite its relative isolation, Belarus is indeed changing.