INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATION IN THE POST-SOVIET SPACE: A NEW STAGE OF COMPETITION BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN UNION PROJECTS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to consider the content and features of integration processes in the post-Soviet space. The political nature of competition between integration projects promoted in the CIS and Baltic countries by the European Union and the Eurasian economic Union is revealed. The author proves that at the present stage of international relations the competition between associations of States and interstate unions for the choice of a vector of integration aspirations is one of the leading vectors of world politics. The article analyzes the transformation of rivalry between the European and Eurasian reformatting strategies of the post-Soviet region, and also reveals the impact on projects between them in the CIS space of such projects as Greater Europe and Greater Eurasia. As a result of the study, it is concluded that the entry into the competition for the geopolitical preferences of the newly independent CIS states of such entities as the USA, the European Union and China, each of which offers its own integration project, requires a review of the policy of the Russian Federation in relation to the countries of the post-Soviet region.