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The Impact Of Russia's War In Ukraine On Post-Soviet Space
Abstract
The research paper explores the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on post-Soviet space. Since 2014 the Russian aggression on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is considered as an act of obvious violation of international law as well as an attempt to change the current world order established after the Soviet Union collapse when former Soviet republics gained full independence. But the new situation emerged by Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens not only the existence of Ukraine as an independent state but it also creates similar threats to other post-Soviet republics that are located in Russia’s so called “near abroad”.
The paper explores Russia's geopolitical interests in post-Soviet era and space towards the former Soviet republics. It emphasizes the peculiarities and impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on ongoing processes in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia. The concept of “Russian world” and its geopolitical provisions are also observed and analyzed. It is argued that this concept has no more potential to be advanced with the use of "soft power" tools. The paper also forecasts a strategic retreat for Russia in post-Soviet space as a probable consequence of the Ukrainian war because of losing by Russia the global information warfare and the lack of international support. It is concluded that Russia's aggression has a real potential to be copied and reproduced by other authoritarian leaders which will aggravate the situation in other post-Soviet conflict zones. At the same time, this war is also considered a struggle between democracy and autocratic rule expansion when the latter has less chance to succeed.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.52155/ijpsat.v38.2.5334
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