Belarus's maneuverability within Russian-led Eurasian economic integration

It is commonly argued that Russia has initiated the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union to oppose the rising economic influence of the European Union and, to a lesser extent, China in the post-Soviet region. Even though Belarus has been a member of both organizations, it has not primarily focused on strengthening trade relations with both institutions’ member states. Instead, the post-Soviet country attempts to pursue a multi-vector foreign trade policy in which it seeks to develop (new) trade relations with countries other than Russia to diminish its trade dependency to its Eastern neighbor. However, since 2010, two of the most prioritized vectors have been the European Union and China. Hence, the objective of this thesis has been to examine the impact of Belarus’s membership in the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union on its ability to intensify trade relations with the European Union and China and focuses on the period 2010-2018. In this way,...Show moreIt is commonly argued that Russia has initiated the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union to oppose the rising economic influence of the European Union and, to a lesser extent, China in the post-Soviet region. Even though Belarus has been a member of both organizations, it has not primarily focused on strengthening trade relations with both institutions’ member states. Instead, the post-Soviet country attempts to pursue a multi-vector foreign trade policy in which it seeks to develop (new) trade relations with countries other than Russia to diminish its trade dependency to its Eastern neighbor. However, since 2010, two of the most prioritized vectors have been the European Union and China. Hence, the objective of this thesis has been to examine the impact of Belarus’s membership in the Eurasian Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union on its ability to intensify trade relations with the European Union and China and focuses on the period 2010-2018. In this way, this research attempts to explore the understudied relationship between multilateral economic organizations and small states’ foreign trade policies and to contribute to the limited existing literature on Belarus’s multi-vector foreign trade policy. To answer the research question, qualitative research is done. Data has been collected through a document analysis, a discourse analysis and five qualitative interviews. The main finding of this thesis is that while Belarus’s membership in the ECU and the EEU has impacted its foreign trade policy in a wide range of areas, being part of these institutions has neither weakened nor expanded its ability to intensify trade relations with the EU or China. Moscow has not used its economic preponderance within both organizations to hinder Belarus from developing closer trade relations with China or the EU.Show less

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Belarus's maneuverability within Russian-led Eurasian economic integration