Eurasian Economic Union as the Space of Security in the Context of English School of International Relations: Theoretical and Practical Aspects

Introduction

The English School of International Relations presents research tools for understanding the role of international structures and institutions in the context of forming the general rules of the game for participants in international society. One of its new, but already quite successful players has become the EAEU, and since its members are located in a key region of the world - Eurasia - this alliance is capable of solving multi-component security tasks. Their implementation depends on stability in the Post-Soviet space. The Post-Soviet space is made up of the territories of the states that were part of the USSR, which are now part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The collapse of the USSR, called by the Russian President V. Putin a geopolitical catastrophe, led not only to the emergence of new independent states and to the formation of a new region on the world stage, but also to the emergence in the region of a set of security problems, primarily in the sphere of interethnic and interreligious interaction in North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia.

Russia plays a central role in this territory; therefore, ensuring security in the region depends largely on Russia's actions, and it is not surprising that Russia's interactions with countries outside the Post-Soviet space also influence the state of the region. So, the general regional security is influenced by the growing competition in the global economy, in which sanctions imposed by the United States on an ongoing basis become an economic tool of unfair competition. Russophobic attitudes in a number of Post-Soviet states, actively encouraged by Western mainstream media, the strengthening of NATO’s position on its borders with Russia, NATO’s desire to cooperate with some new states in the Post-Soviet space, which causes concern for Russia, cannot be ignored. The expansion of NATO in itself led to the destabilization of the Post-Soviet space, and it was largely aimed at preventing reintegration processes in the region, so several countries of the former USSR were taken under the wing of NATO and the EU. The combination of internal and external threats in the Post-Soviet space poses the task of uniting the efforts of states in solving security problems, thanks to interstate dialogue and trust. Dialogue and trust are possible through collaboration and joint projects in all areas of life. Thus, the example of the EU shows that economic cooperation allows the development of institutions and legal frameworks for jointly addressing security issues. For many countries of the former Soviet Union, which face common and identical security problems, this task is also relevant. Thus, the EAEU should be studied not only in the context of the economy, but also from the point of view of solving the complex security problem in the region.

The purpose of the article is to determine the approaches to understanding security problems and challenges in the context of the postulates of the English School of International Relations. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: to determine the main provisions of the English School of International Relations on the role of integration entities in shaping the security space; and the capabilities of the EAEU to effectively address security challenges. At the same time, in the presented research it is necessary to concentrate on the conceptual approach associated with the formation of the regional security complex proposed by B. Buzan and O. Wæver. These authors have convincingly demonstrated how natural international anarchy can be institutionalized and streamlined. In this context, the EAEU, influencing the security agenda, relying on a specific region (Eurasia), is not associated only with it, but provides inter-regional cooperation, creating an international organization of a new type that is capable of solving security problems at all levels.