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The nation building in the CIS region and their

Realists in general argue that the deciding factor determining the international political arena, is
power. Representatives of the neoclassical approach refine this statement by saying that it is
distribution of capabilities that matters. Both statements are in essence correct, if one considers
not only military capabilities, but also economic wealth and its distribution, as well as spheres of
informational influence.
For Russia it has always been historically inherent to expand outwards and use its foreign policy
as a prerequisite for a stable domestic situation. In this respect one could use a possibly valid
argument of the offensive neorealism arguing that Russia is intending to increase its relative
security, and its implications again are two-fold. Internally speaking, one has to look at who is
Russia, i.e. those people who constitute the ruling regime at a certain point of time. Being
historically an authoritarian state the regime has always counted on external threats, real or
created, and wars, that could secure its stable position, and not that of the system or international
status. Externally, imperialistic approach to expand outwards
By saying that its impossible to assess
Ironically enough, this expansionary movement is by no means in tune with desires of people
living in these territories, therefore instead of bringing more security more havoc and insecurity
has been brought about.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the newly formed republics found themselves in the
state of vacuum, not for a long though. Internally most of them had never had a long history of
independence and the consciousness of both political leaders and common people was still
Soviet, i.e. far from democratic values. Economic hardships had been preoccupying the majority
of population for most of these years, while

When investigating revolutions in different countries


The question of transformation processes in developing nations on the post-Soviet space has
been under

However, there is a shortage of research dealing with the situation when transformation
processes, nation building and awakening of societies, previously kept under a direct influence of
the great power, take place not only in the regions economically dependent on the great power,
but also lying close both territorially, as well as culturally to it, sharing quite a bit of similarities
in mentality of the populations. This is the case of the Russian Federation and other post-Soviet
republics of the Soviet Union.

Background and context


This study will examine the drivers that have contributed to the revolutionary changes of the
some post-Soviet countries, namely Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. The choice of the countries
is not accidental: all of them have been going through the process of democratization and nation
building; all of them have a geographically lie close to Russia and with exception of Georgia,
also to the European Union; finally societies in these countries have long historical ties and thus
similar mentality with the Russian Federation. The primary focus of the research question will be
made to the democratization and nation building processes in the selected states as well as the
international response onto and consequences of these reactions. However apart from the
principal concentration on international relations and political science, economic side of the issue
will be dealt as well, because in my opinion, economic reality indeed plays an important role in
creating conditions for the discussed multidimensional interaction of actors.
The working thesis for the study is that an authoritarian regime of the great power in order to
secure its position will crush every democratic development not only domestically, but also in
every neighboring country, thus increasing the level of insecurity, both domestically and
internationally, through an open military confrontation and creating the conditions for its own
overthrowing and even reshaping a geopolitical map of the continent.
Other sub-topics, which are to be reviewed, will include the following: the types of revolutions
and their different consequences; the influence of non-state actors such as political and economic
elites onto state behavior both domestically and in international politics (primarily in relations
with the European Union and Russia); the state and society interaction; the domino principle; the
collective action and problems with it; various dimensions of the security concept, their weights

and relevance for the selected geographical area; the role of international organizations such as
the UN and OSCE in facilitating the conflict resolution.
The importance of the proposed research topic is huge and has not been more actual in the
twenty first century than nowadays. The social movements in post-Soviet states may indeed
reshape the economic and political picture of Eurasia, therefore the proposed work will be very
much useful for policy makers in different countries and unions including the United States,
Switzerland and the European Union, who work on the state, societal and structural levels of
decision making. Apart from that the dissertation could enrich academic environment with a
deeper understanding of interaction and interplay phenomena of the state and society (both
internally and externally) as adjusted to the specific geographic and geopolitical region. Finally,
for a long time there has been an intense debate over the role and importance of each of the two
major schools of IR Theory, i.e. liberalism focusing more on individual and firm level of
analysis, and realism, emphasizing the role of the state and state interaction in international
system. In my opinion it is important not only to try contradicting and falsifying, but also
including, not only differentiating but also synthetizing. Therefore the proposed project could
make an endeavor to contribute to a greater degree of synthesis and harmonization of the two
schools and thus present a more dimensional understanding of international relations.
Research question
What are the consequences of the nation building processes taking place in Ukraine, Georgia
and Moldova for the international security?
Or
What is the response of the Great Powers onto transformation processes taking place in
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, and its implications for international security?
Research objectives
-

To investigate in depth every transformation case in Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova from

political, economic and social dimensions


To understand domestic and international interplay between the state and societies in the
selected states

To understand the nature and logic of response of Russia onto the changes taking place on

its borders
To investigate the involvement and response of other Great Powers, in particular, the
United States and the European Union and China to the crises in the chosen countries and
conduct an analysis of the possible consequences of their policies for domestic and

international security
To conduct the analysis of possible domestic consequences of conduct of the Russian
Federation with regard to the geopolitical map of the Eurasian continent.

Theoretical framework
The proposed project is defined to be led under the umbrella of the realist school of thought.
More specifically, the main emphasis will be given to the neoclassical realism. Realists in
general argue that the deciding factor determining the international political arena, is power. The
proponents of the neorealist approach correct this statement by saying that it is distribution of
capabilities that matters. Both statements are in essence correct, but it might make more sense to
consider not only military capabilities, but also economic wealth and its distribution, as well as
spheres of informational influence as included by proponents of the neoclassical realism. Also,
some other theoretical elements include complex interdependency theory, developed by R.
Keohane and J. Nye, which explicitly shows the importance of transnational connections, and the
domino theory first of all as perceived by the Russian leadership.

Literature review
As a starting point for discussion the book Revolution and Wari by Stephen Walt is considered,
where he presents different patterns of revolutions. However, the main emphasis in the book was
put on the countries, which as a result of the regime change drastically changed their foreign
policy and increased the level of insecurity. Moreover, in their majority, the countries presented
were big regional powers, while the aspect of democratic changes taking place in the former

components of the bigger empire which gained a formal independence not as a result of struggle,
but as a consequence of disintegration of the state like the Soviet Union, have not been given due
attention.
I mostly agree with the findings made by Jack Snyder and Edward D. Mansfield ii, who found
that elites in young democratizing states tend to use nationalist rhetoric to attract mass support
without submitting to full democratic accountability afterwards due to weak democratic
institutions. They also found that transition toward democracy may be more troublesome then
towards autocracy. However, they do not present an answer in systemic terms, i.e., why war
breaks out in one cases and does not break in other; their view like that of Walts considers only
the outwardly directed military aggression, but falls short to address the specific aspect of the
international response. Moreover, they do not provide many evidences on cases when the
selected states find a lot in common with the autocratic great power, lying close geographically
to them and what consequences this may produce both domestically and for the international
system. Furthermore, research falls short to address a unique case of the country like Ukraine,
which is located just in the middle between two great powers Russia in the East and the greater
Europe in the West, and how transformation in a country like this may shift the balance of power
in the continent. Besides, the issue of the elite and mixed revolutions has not been dealt to a
sufficient extent.

The methodology
The structural comparative analysis comprises the basis for the proposed dissertation. Apart from
that, general scientific methods of induction and deduction as well as method of analogy and
method of expert opinions, will be used when appropriate. The range of countries researched
includes Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the Russian Federation. The project will consider the
state, societal and occasionally, individual level of analysis. The timeframe of the proposed
dissertation will cover all post-Soviet period, from the beginning of 1990s until nowadays.

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