E.U.-Russia Relations: Interests and Value--A European Perspective

Publication Date: December 2004

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Rolf Schuette

Research Area: International relations; Politics

Type: Report

Abstract:

Western media, many Russia scholars, politicians who are not in power, and much of the public see President Vladimir Putin moving Russia further away from democracy, human rights, and the rule of law as they are understood in the West. The critics may disagree about whether today's Russia can be described as a "managed democracy," an "authoritarian state," or a "new totalitarian state." But they all agree that the political system President Putin has designed and erected during the past few years no longer has much in common with western democracy. This paper looks at E.U.--Russia relations from a European and not a Russian perspective. Its main focus is to look at the question of how the issue of "common values" has figured in this relationship, especially when compared with the importance of other major issues.