The last decade most Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies have been on a convergence path towards the EU average according to the main economic indicators. In 2022, however, the terrible war in Ukraine had major spillovers to the rest of the world, with the CEE economies being among the most exposed. The millions of refugees, the disruptions to energy supply, trade and supply chains, the surge in inflation, the tightening of global financial conditions, and elevated uncertainty created a radically new economic and social environment in these countries. The volume covers the economic effects of these challenges, the policy options available, and also those related to the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine, including the potential role of  the CEE countries. Based on data and evidence-supported policy analysis, each chapter studies the impact of the shock on a particular area of the economy and makes general and country-specific policy recommendations.

​This book explores the discursive dimension of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It analyzes how political leaders, mass media, social media, and ordinary people in Ukraine, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France discuss the war. War propaganda and counterpropaganda structure discourses about the invasion, strengthening post-truth conditions. The book highlights the consequences of the growing distrust in the institutional truth-teller, mass media. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is the first social media war. Social media became the principal source of information about the invasion. The rise of digital media did not change the tendency of the discourses about war to be territorially segregated according to national boundaries. Nationalization of discourses about war continues to prevail over their globalization. The corpora containing more than 180 million words in four languages inform the analysis. The data was collected during the first year and a half of Russia'sall-out war in Ukraine.

Following a realist approach and with a focus on political discord, economic sanctions, and media limitations, the book sheds light onto the deadlock between the conflicting parties. It dissects the diplomatic endeavors and missteps, varying political perspectives, Western support strategies, and the intricate global dynamics that triggered this existential crisis. The critical assessment of political antecedents, including the Budapest Memorandum, the Bucharest Summit Declaration, and the Minsk Agreements 1 and 2, uncovers hidden political motives aimed at setting the stage for a proxy war. Additionally, the book scrutinizes the financial dimensions of the conflict, strategies for post-conflict reconstruction, and the emerging Zeitenwende phenomenon reshaping the geopolitical landscape of the Global North. This book's insights suggest a potential shift towards a new multipolar global order, representing a significant realignment in the distribution of geopolitical and geo-economic influence.

Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine has been a watershed moment for the European Union (EU). The return of large-scale conventional warfare to the European continent, unseen since the Second World War, shattered the illusion of perpetual peace and forced the EU to confront the reality of hard power. Originally created to maintain internal peace, the EU was never conceived to handle the challenges of war. Yet, the war in Ukraine required the EU to repurpose its machinery of government to do just that. Embracing a comparative analytical framework, this book examines how the EU constitution has functioned in response to Russia's aggression. It scrutinizes the EU's legal reactions across five key policy areas: foreign, security, and defence policy; economic and fiscal policy; justice and home affairs; energy and industrial policy; and enlargement and reform.

Exploring the ebb and flow of European security from the end of the Second World War to the present day, Richard Rose examines why security cannot be taken for granted today and what this means for the future of security in Europe. Since 1949 military security from the Black Sea to Washington's Potomac River has been guaranteed by NATO with the White House in command. He reminds us that masses of Europeans enjoyed unprecedented economic security as the European Union has replaced competition in armaments with competition in a single European market. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union restructured the map of Europe and encouraged the United States to turn toward China. However, Vladimir Putin's attempt to revive a Soviet-style version of security by invading Ukraine has stimulated aid to Ukraine as it fights a proxy war to protect the security of Europe.

Mobilizing an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners, this book reviews the history and consequences of NATO's post-Cold War enlargement into Central and Eastern Europe. It offers a nuanced discussion of the merits and drawbacks of NATO enlargement across the different actors involved and compares the results of the policy against potential alternatives that were not chosen. Particular attention is given to NATO enlargement's influence on the course of U.S. foreign policy, democracy and security in Central and Eastern Europe, NATO's own development as a political and military institution, and relations with China and Russia (including the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War).  Written for an engaged audience, the book is designed to appeal to students, researchers, and policymakers alike while offering both policy insights and avenues for future scholarship.

European Monographs Series The European Union (EU) has chosen to react to violence and aggression in states outside the block through the imposition of restrictive measures, both autonomous and mandated by the Security Council of the United Nations. In recent years, it has furthermore chosen to react to malicious activities that do not necessarily unfold within the territory of a specific state. To date, the EU has done so in thirty-seven instances, following more than eighty EU legal instruments. This book is the first to thoroughly investigate the origins, nature, and implications of the whole range of sanctions regimes set by the EU.

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and Implications for the Central Region addresses national security threats and strategic opportunities for the United States and its allies in the Middle East and Central Asia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Recognizing that integrated deterrence is not constrained by geography or domain, this book focuses on the complex threats and challenges confronting U.S. national security and foreign policy in a post-Ukraine invasion environment. That is to say, what happens in Ukraine does not stay in Ukraine. It affects everyone from the region to the cyberspace domain to people on the other side of the world, due to changes in commodity prices.

This authoritative handbook offers insights into the complexities of post-war reconstruction and development economics in Ukraine. Covering a broad spectrum of topics, from bolstering national security to fostering sustainable economic growth, it offers a comprehensive understanding of the economic dynamics, factors, and practical applications shaping policy and programs. The book explores the multifaceted requirements for enhancing fiscal, economic, and social aspects, including security, education, working conditions, domestic and international policies, and market conditions. Using traditional and innovative analytical tools, it unravels the complex relationship between macroeconomic and microeconomic factors in Ukraine's post-war landscape, charting a path towards economic growth. Key themes within this handbook encompass development data, statistical capacity building, research and knowledge creation, national indicators, and impact evaluation.

This book is primarily designed to address the legal challenges arising in international law and selected fields of national law, both as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and, more generally, other extraordinary situations. The focus of the research is the national and international legal frameworks in selected fields, specifically the transformation of legal norms and changes in their application during emergency situations. The authors examine the values underlying these laws in the context of war, challenge existing legal approaches in international law during emergencies, and evaluate the relevance and transformation of legal regulations in Ukraine as they respond to the changing circumstances in the state and society due to the war.

The European Union (EU) has chosen to react to violence and aggression in states outside the block through the imposition of restrictive measures, both autonomous and mandated by the Security Council of the United Nations. In recent years, it has furthermore chosen to react to malicious activities that do not necessarily unfold within the territory of a specific state. To date, the EU has done so in thirty-seven instances, following more than eighty EU legal instruments. This book is the first to thoroughly investigate the origins, nature, and implications of the whole range of sanctions regimes set by the EU. Breaching international peace and security, violent repression and political stalemate, serious violation of human rights, terrorism, malicious cyber activities and proliferation and use of chemical weapons have urged the EU to adopt restrictive measures. A special chapter is dedicated to the particularly complex restrictive measures related to Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Vladimir Putin expressed Russia's commitment for the reconstruction of the war-devasted Eastern regions of Ukraine. It is surprising how little analytical and comparative literature exists about Russia's experience in post-conflict recovery despite its involvement in a large number of conflict areas, both as an intervenor and as a donor. Against this backdrop, this book explores the role of Russia in the reconstruction of a range of countries and territories including Crimea, the North Caucasus and Chechnya as well as Syria. Based on the author's three decades-long experience in research and engagement in post-conflict reconstruction, the book offers a valuable overview of the main lessons learned that will be of relevance to Ukraine. The case selection is not intended to offer an exhaustive account of all the recent or contemporary conflicts in which Russia has involved itself. Rather the cases have been selected to illustrate a range of interventions across different periods and geographical areas, highlighting the spectrum of Russian reconstruction policies and strategies.

This book explores how Russia's War on Ukraine has changed the global nuclear order. The Russian aggression against Ukraine questioned the values of the liberal regimes and systems upon which the global nuclear order is built. At the heart of this nuclear order lies the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which remains until today the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation regime. In this context, the book examines new challenges and threats to the global nuclear order. It discusses the deterioration of nuclear norms, as well as the increasing number of the states further challenging the NPT regime by attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

This book provides a systematic analysis of the Russian-Ukraine war, using the concept of resilient fighting power to assess the operational performance of both sides during the first year of the full-scale invasion. The Russian war in Ukraine began in 2014 and continued for eight years, before the full-scale invasion of 24 February 2022. It is not a new war, but the intensity of the warfighting revived many discussions about the conduct of inter-state warfare, which has not been seen in Europe for decades.

The war in Ukraine has captivated the world. Current coverage is emotional and largely limited to the military aspects of the war. Contributions from Peace and Conflict Studies have been under-represented in the current debate. They are even subject to anti-pacifist criticism. The question of what is needed for a lasting peace is hardly addressed. This question is all the more important as this war has a highly explosive global dimension in its depth, with indirect links to other territorial conflicts, such as the China-Taiwan conflict. In parallel with the war, there is a growing global bloc between East and West and, since Donald Trump took office in January 2025, an internal split in the West with an uncertain outcome. Some observers speak of a 'New Cold War' with the two superpowers, the US and China, and the EU and Russia as the main players.

War is the great illuminator. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revealed not only its imperial ambition but also the internal colonialism at play within the Russian Federation itself (with disproportionately fewer ethnic Russians at the front than other minorities). Far from placing the Kremlin at the top table of international affairs, the war has also led to mounting distrust and defiance in its traditional sphere of influence, weakening its position both globally and regionally. Donnacha Ó Beacháin places the current geopolitical conflict in Russia's historical trajectory, tracing Russia's development from the tiny Duchy of Moscow through the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation, the largest country in the world. He explains the context of the war and the consequence for Russia's neocolonial relationships with its "near abroad". An essential primer for the reader looking to understand Russia's place in the world beyond the binary East-West tensions.

This open access book aims at discussing the manifold consequences that the War against Ukraine bears for the European Union and EU Studies. It takes stock of the fact that the Russian Attack on Ukraine and the ensuing War not only affects the Global Order, but also has challenged a number of established narratives and convictions for the European Union and its member states. The EU now needs to position itself in the changing world order. Concretely it needs to deal with a number of membership applications, internal and external challenges to liberal democracy, and the development of its strategic autonomy in a number of decisive policy fields. The book convenes experienced scholars, with chapters covering the following themes and fields: Theories, approaches and concepts in EU studies and IR; the EU and the changing European and Global Order; the War and defence of liberal democracy; Membership Politics; Energy Policy.

This book analyzes the goals of Western sanctions imposed on Russia from 2014 to 2023. It explores the effects of sanctions on the Russian economy and its political course, as well as the repercussions of the sanctions to the senders and third parties, including spillover effects on neighboring countries and boomerang effects on the senders. While sanctions can be considered relatively effective in terms of economic damage, the Russian economy is far from being crushed. Importantly, sanctions proved to be ineffective as an instrument of foreign policy. They have failed to alter Moscow's resolve to continue its military operation and are unlikely to change it in the near future. The effects of the sanctions extend well beyond their anticipated impact on Russia itself, primarily due to the Western nations' limited experience and knowledge in implementing sanctions against a major power with extensive global connections, such as Russia.

The war in Ukraine is fast approaching its second anniversary since its commencement on 24 February 2022 as a blatant aggression by Russia. As we discuss in detail in this book, there are multiple international legal issues that arise and require addressing. What is more, the very international legal order is under threat, insofar as the fundamental international law obligations are not being complied with and the basic international rules are utterly ignored. This book discusses a number of international law issues arising from the war in Ukraine. It covers not only the traditional subjects of war, such as jus ad bellum, international criminal law, and the law of neutrality, but also the relatively new issues arising from the economic sanctions against Russia, including aspects of the WTO law and international investment law. This book provides the readers with opportunities to reconsider the various legal aspects of the war in Ukraine.