Eurasian Union - a New Name for an Old Integration Idea

Author(s): Katharina Hoffmann
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Aglaya Snetkov, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 112
Pages: 2-4
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute of History, University of Basel
Publication Year: 2012

On the initiative of Vladimir Putin, a proposal to create a Eurasian Union as a new format for the integration of the post-Soviet space was announced by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in October 2011. Indeed a number of substantial steps towards more integration can be found in the Customs Union on which it is to be based. However, any reconceptualization of the notion of integration remains at the purely rhetorical level. Thus, the Eurasian Union has only little integration potential and has few attractions to offer the newly independent states.

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