Georgia, Obama, the Economic Crisis: Shifting Ground in Russia-EU Relations
The firmly entrenched stagnation of relations between Russia and the European Union is leading to mutual dissatisfaction and even distrust. The failure of current institutions and practices to adapt to the challenges of the international political and economic environment and the outdated (for both Russia and Europe) agenda, are responsible.
Each side perceives almost all initiatives by the other as competitive, which does not help relations improve. This kind of situation is damaging to the European Union, reducing its capacity for action vis-à-vis Russia; Russia, in turn, is writing off sources for the country's modernization.
Timofei Bordachev is the Vice-Dean and Director of the Center for European and International Research at the Faculty of World Economics and Politics (State University-Higher School of Economics, SU-HSE) and Research Director at the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy (Moscow).
Russie.Nei.Visions is an electronic collection of policy papers published in French, English and Russian by the Russia/NIS Center, Ifri.
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
Georgia, Obama, the Economic Crisis: Shifting Ground in Russia-EU Relations
Author(s)
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
Russia/Eurasia Center
Founded in 2005 within Ifri, the Russia/Eurasia Center conducts research and organizes debates on Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus. Its goal is to understand and anticipate the evolution of this complex and rapidly changing geographical area in order to enrich public discourse in France and Europe and to assist in strategic, political, and economic decision-making.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
The Caspian Sea as an Emerging Energy Hub : Potentials and Limitations
This report analyzes the prospects of the Caspian Sea region — and its key actors except for Russia and Iran — becoming an important energy hub serving the needs of the European Union (EU).
The European Union's Strategic Test in Georgia
The political crisis brewing in Georgia is of an existential nature for the country. What is at stake is Georgia's future as a democratic and sovereign European nation (EU).
Commanders of Putin's Long War: Purged, Reshuffled and Disgruntled
The trend of reshuffling the Russian top military command in the course of a fast-evolving and far from successful war has progressed unevenly both across the Armed Forces’ structures and in time. The rationale for and timing of the abrupt cadre decisions made by Commander-in-Chief Putin often defy logical explanation, and the rare official clarifications are no more informative than the usual information blackout.
Russian Military Manpower After Two and a Half Years of War in Ukraine
In addition to a military victory in Ukraine, the Russian leadership is planning to build up sizable troop formations for a possible conflict with NATO in the Baltic region and the Kola Peninsula. In particular, current plans aim for the military manpower to grow by about 350,000, reaching a total of 1.5 million soldiers and commanders. In the context of the current conflict in Ukraine, this cannot be accomplished without a new wave of mass mobilization.