Cooperation in Eurasia. Linking Identity, Security, and Development

The end of the Cold War seemed to mark a milestone in international relations: the end of history. In an increasingly globalised world, a new era of international cooperation built upon interdependence should have put an end to the logic of competition and confrontation of the bipolar system. Twentyfive years later, history proved such assumptions to be flawed. Quite on the contrary, power relations seem still to dominate international relations. The traditional factors of state security – sovereignty and territorial integrity – still ranks high in the agenda of political leaders. At the same time, the international system looks profoundly different from the one of the bipolar period as it is increasingly marked by fragmentation into highly differentiated – yet interconnected – regional and sub-regional arenas. On this backdrop the present work aims at analysing the nexus between identity, security and development in the post-bipolar Eurasian landmass, focusing on multilateral organisations and regional complexes. Accordingly, the book has been divided into two parts, focusing respectively on “Cooperation and Competition at the Multilateral Level” and on “Regional Case Studies”.