The (re)-politicisation of international relations in the post-Soviet space

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the post-Soviet space has undergone remarkable changes: new conflicts have emerged, transnational infrastructures have been constructed, new institutions have been created and new security concerns have appeared. However, until relatively recently, scant attention has been paid to the significance of alternative approaches to geopolitics as an explanatory paradigm to assist in understanding the new changes in the post-Soviet space. The five articles in this Special Issue seek to fill this gap in the existing debate on foreign policy in the post-Soviet space, using a number of conceptual and methodological tools to shed light on the multiple forms of intertwined dynamics that are currently shaping relations across the region. They seek to facilitate a better understanding of previously observed, but unexplained and neglected, phenomena associated with the complexities of international relations in the post-Soviet space. This article serves as an introduction to the Special Issue “The (re)-politicisation of international relations in the post-Soviet space” and outlines the key research questions to which answers have been sought by experts.