NEW BOOK: Relations between CEE Countries and Major Powers

Relations between CEE Countries and Major Powers

Chief Editor: Dr. LIU Zuokui

 

Preface

Whether like it or not, “geopolitics” has become a key phrase in understanding contemporary European external relations. Policy makers, academic researchers, and media reporters are increasingly viewing relations between countries/regions through the lens of geopolitics. Given the competitiveness connotations inherent in “geopolitics”, the mentality is clearly different from the “cooperation” narrative that was popular after the end of the Cold War.

Geopolitics is a game for great powers, while small countries are often the pawns and the arena of geopolitical competition. Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are no strangers to geopolitical competition due to historical reasons and their geographical location. More than a hundred years ago, the British geographer Halford John Mackinder pointed out that the CEE region was part of the “heartland” and that control of the heartland was essential to control the world. While the theory can certainly be questioned, we do see a history of geopolitical competition in this region over the last century: Turkey, Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union (Russia), the United States, etc. competed for influence, and turned the region to the battlegrounds of two world wars and the Cold War. The history led to the fragmented map of this region, complex historical and ethnic issues, and an indelible, cruel memory.

Now, the CEE countries seem to be facing a new geopolitical environment. In addition to Russia, the United States, Germany, and Turkey, China, as an emerging economy, has started to increase its presence in the region. For China, its efforts are attracting the cardinal attention, especially through the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism and the “Belt and Road” initiative. China’s influence, as the authors of the collection have pointed out, is not military or religious, nor even political, but more economic. China is geographically too far away, its history and culture is too different, and its military power is limited (including limited willingness to use it). These factors lead China to exert its influence here more through its rapidly growing economic power. Although it is clear from the authors’ contributions that CEE countries do not share the same attitude towards Chinese influence, overall, China’s involvement in the economic affairs of this region is constructive and can bring opportunities for peace and development.

Understandably, there are highs and lows in geopolitical competition, and this is the picture that history has shown us. Now we are in a period of intense geopolitical situation, which is exacerbated by the Russian- Ukrainian conflict. The impact of the conflict on CEE countries should not be underestimated in any case. After the outbreak of the conflict, the CEE public were shock to realize that after the decades of Cold-War tensions and confrontations, the prospect of permanent peace and prosperity was shattered overnight, and history seemed to return to the era of the World War II. The shock was not only psychological, but also seen through the long gas and electricity bills and Ukrainian refugees on the streets. For CEE countries being in such a “heartland”, it is hardly evitable to be drawn into geopolitical competition, but they have the chance to mitigate the loss, and to use the great-power competition to their best advantage.

This collection of essays discusses the relationship between the CEE countries and great powers, which include the European Union, Germany, the United States, Russia, China, and Turkey. Some of them are neighbors of the CEE countries and share linguistic and cultural similarities with them, others have been rooted here for a long time, while China is largely a new player in the CEE region. They all seek to maximize their influence in the region by playing to their strengths and taking advantage of the rapidly changing international political landscape.

This collection of essays invites scholars from CEE countries to analyze the relations between their own countries and these great powers. We believe that this collection has an important academic and practical value in the context of dramatic changes in great-power relations and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. We wish that through this collection of essays, readers may gain a clearer understanding of the current geopolitical picture in which the CEE countries find themselves.

 

Prof. Dr. LIU Zuokui

Deputy Director General, Institute of European Studies, CASS

 

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