BORDERLANDS ON THE EDGE OF LOSS: RUSSIAN POLICY, UKRAINE, BELARUS IN THE CONTEXT OF POST-IMPERIAL RELATIONS

The article examines contemporary political relations between Russia and Ukraine and Belarus from the perspective of analyzing relations between the former imperial center and the periphery. The theoretical and methodological framework of the article consists of studies dealing with the post-imperial political development of the periphery its relation with the former imperial center and political processes in the post-Soviet area. Of signifi cance were the studies on the politics of memory to solve the problems posed in the article.

The paper raises and considers the question to what extent the relations between Russia and the former Soviet states as post-imperial in the general context of the collapse of empires are reasonable characterized. It presents the analysis of the Russian integration policy in the post-Soviet area from the perspective of building relations in the postimperial period, its results in regarding to Ukraine and Belarus. The modern Russian policy toward to Ukraine and Belarus is considered, its analysis is carried out, including the economic and fi nancial component of the relationship between Russia and these states. Particular attention is paid to the factor of cultural and historical proximity and the Russian policy of memory in toward to these post-Soviet countries, it also analyzed the reasons for its limited effectiveness in terms of national identity development of the of Ukrainian and Belarusian societies are analyzed.

The reported conclusions give characteristic of the political relations between Russia and Ukraine and Belarus as post-imperial in the context of the continuation of the acquisition of political and national-cultural independence by these states, the processes that began in the Soviet period. Such development leads to a decrease in the infl uence of Russia, while economic factors have limited effectiveness for its preservation. Moscow's positions are increasingly being replaced by the infl uence of centers of power external to the post-Soviet space.

The results of the study may be used for refi ning Russian policy in the post-Soviet area. 

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