The Russian war against Ukraine has become another wake-up call for the West. The taboos on criticizing Russia are being gradually lifted bearing in mind demonstration of total disrespect to any rules by Moscow. Stigmatization of the critics of Russia as Russophobes is not trendy anymore although Russia does its best to return to “good old times” when pro-Russian narratives were dominating. Such situation opens a window of opportunity for […]

The Republic of Moldova is the country landlocked by Ukraine and Romania who are the only country’s land-border neighbours. No doubt, the situation in Moldova matters for both Bucharest in Kyiv. Security risks, economic uncertainty, energy-supplies dependence and environmental challenges may have spillover effect and cross-border impact and affect Ukraine and Romania. The country also has strong historical, cultural and linguistic ties with Romania whereas Ukrainian minority in Moldova is […]

There seems to be an international consensus among analysts: Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy is rational. I question this presumption. In international relations, the concept “rationality” has become ubiquitous. Since 2000, around 50% of scholarly international relations references to foreign policy allude to “rationality” (Abulof 2015 pp. 359-360). But “rationality” is rarely defined in international relations literature. The concept “rationality” has different meanings across fields. In international relations, use of the […]

This policy paper aims at analyzing how the foreign policy instruments used by Russia have influenced the agenda of the public debates in Romania. The analysis will focus both on hard instruments (territorial annexations and wars that took place in the territorial proximity of Romania) and on soft instruments (propaganda). This paper was realized by Dr. Ileana Racheru within the project “Understanding the Eastern Neighborhood. A unique platform for comprehensive debates […]

On March 5, 2018, the Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association (ESGA), Bucharest, Romania,  hosted a debate with two invited guest experts from Poland: Dr Piotr Oleksy, Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute of European Culture and Kamil Calus, the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), Poland. The event was dedicated to the political dynamics and regional security in Eastern Europe. The debate was held in Bucharest, with the aim to bring […]

Europe’s fundamental security principles and the values of liberal democracy come increasingly under the pressure of Russia’s subversive or aggressive behaviour. Crimea’s annexation and the ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine are questioning the viability of the European integration project and the Euro-Atlantic peace and security architecture (especially in the Black sea area, Baltic States and Poland). Moreover, Russia’s support for anti-immigrant, populist and extremist parties in Europe has proved its […]

In 2007, the European Union launched a visionary strategy for the development of cooperation with Central Asian states. The document, called ‘The EU and Central Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership’ was aiming to enhance EU influence in the region through establishing a broader dialogue with the Central Asian states in areas such as institution-building, rule of law, trade, energy and security. Ten years after its launching, EU’s bilateral relations […]

Starting with April 2017, we are launching ESGA Q&A project which is part of the communication platform of Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association. Our aim is to bring experts opinions, views and analysis closer to our audience. Through ESGA Q&A project, our goal is to become a dialogue facilitator by discussing a wide range of topics with our expert guests. Although all the views and opinions of the […]

Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association (ESGA) has organized on March 31st, 2017, the second debate ”Russian Foreign Policy Perspectives for Stagnation or Change during Putin’s Last Presidential Term”. The guest speaker of the event was Mr. Konstantin von Eggert, Russian media personality, former diplomatic correspondent, programme host and commentator at TV Rain, Moscow.  This debate is the second one and it is part of the series of events […]

Europe’s fundamental security principles and the values of liberal democracy come increasingly under the pressure of Russia’s subversive or aggressive behavior. Crimea’s annexation and the ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine are questioning the viability of European integration project and the architecture of Euro-Atlantic peace and security (especially in the Black sea area, Baltic States and Poland). Moreover Russia’s support for anti-immigrant, populist and extremist parties in Europe has proved its […]