THE EU AND RUSSIA SHIFTING AWAY FROM THE ECONOMIC LOGIC OF INTERDEPENDENCE – AN EXPLANATION THROUGH THE COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE THEORY

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, the ongoing debate concerning the best course of action that the West should take in order to better handle Russia still sparks the academia and the decision-makers. Thus, the European continent is once again divided, bringing back chills from the Cold War era. Although the current adopted measures, namely the economic sanctions on Russia's energy and financial sectors, have undoubtedly exerted considerable pressure on the Russian economy, isolating it from the Western world, they have not changed, at least for now, President Putin's overall strategic vision. Within this context, the current paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the nature of the EU and Russia relations, in order to shed some light over the current deadlock. Overall, the research aims, through an interdisciplinary approach to analyse the complex relations between the two actors, based on an evaluation of their economic interdependence and culminating with the exploration of its significance for their international political ties, considering the current economic and political context.