The Study of European Union''s Foreign Policy toward Russia in the Post Cold War Era

• Main Authors: Ching-Ping Yang, 楊青萍
• Other Authors: 郭秋慶
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72605282854903721904

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 歐洲研究所碩士班 === 93 === After the World War II, the international situation had changed dramatically. Suffered from the destruction of the war, European countries confronted two main problems: economic reconstruction and security defense. In order to recover the economy and ensure national security, western European countries moved toward transnational cooperation and formed a new collective power—European Union. Another important international organization—NATO, was established to strenthen the regional defence. Their imaginary enemy was the superpower—Russia. Russia plays an important role in the history of modern Europe and deeply influences international political circumstance, especially on her neighborhood Europe. Russia , a member of G8, is highly industrialized. She possesses rich energy resources and become the major supplier of EU. The potential consumer market also attracts a lot of investment from western countries. In the post cold war, the interaction between EU and Russia is the focus of the whole world. Moreover, EU and NATO’s enlargement extend their power to the Central and Eastern Europe, threatening the safety of Russian frontier. In the face of Russia’s opposition, how does EU map out the foreign policies that benefit each other and settle conflicts peacefully by mutual cooperation is the most important task in the new era. EU’s Common Strategy on Russia had been implemented since 1999. This is the first time EU worked out a guiding framework that offered a dialogue mechanism. TACIS has become the main instrument of EU to help Russia to consolidate democracy, the rule of law and public institution. The summit meetings at least twice a year have achieved a common ground of collaboration in the framework of political dialogue, especially for the four common spaces—“Common economic space”, “Common Space of Freedom, Security and Justice”, “Common Space of Co-operation in the Field of External Security” and “Common Space on Research, Education and Culture”—which are the major agendas between Europe and Russia.