Modern versus Postmodern Actor of International Relations: EU-Russia Negotiations on the New Partnership Agreement
Modern versus Postmodern Actor of International Relations: EU-Russia Negotiations on the New Partnership Agreement

Summary/Abstract: This paper proposes a particular reference point to analyze EU-Russia relations, namely by conceptualizing Russia as a modern and the EU as a postmodern actor of international relations. It provides a theoretical description of what modern and postmodern foreign policy means and adapts these notions to the international behaviour of the EU and Russia, particularly to their positions regarding the new partnership agreement (the post-PCA). The article argues that, because of the fundamental differences between the EU and Russia as international actors, the notion of the partnership as being “strategic” should be questioned. It also argues that there is an inherent ideological clash between the two. Moreover, the ideological differences inevitably translate into the lack of trust and exacerbation of geopolitical tensions in the shared neighbourhood. More importantly, Russia’s economic and political closeness, its unwillingness to deepen interdependence with the EU as well as its export structure dominated by natural resources which are not bound by the EU’s import tariffs - make it immune to European influence and European efforts to lock it into binding cooperation structures. The paper states that, because the EU cannot use the existing interdependence to its own benefit, the final version of the post-PCA agreement is likely to match Russian rather than European interests.

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