Societal Cohesion is Crucial for the Security of Russia’s Neighbours, Report Finds
When evaluating the security of countries in Russia’s neighbourhood, policymakers and scholars primarily look at top-down state actions. A new report focuses on security ‘from below’ and finds that societal cohesion is crucial for security in the region.
Call for a new approach to insecurity in Eastern Europe
The KonKoop In:Security Report deals with seven countries in three overarching chapters. In their analysis of how each country reacted to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in terms of their security policies, the authors find considerable variation across the country cases and show how the different discourses and perceptions of security are rooted in the respective histories of these states. This calls into question ‘the perception of Eastern Europe as one homogeneous geopolitical region’.
The authors suggest ‘taking a more disaggregated approach’. In their view, societal dynamics need to be appraised on the sub-regional and national levels to enable an appropriate reaction to emerging security needs and expectations: ‘In particular, the effects of insecurity in the borderlands should be taken into account as well as the risk of increasing internal and/or transnational bordering.’
Lack of societal cohesion as a security threat
While some societies, like Moldova and Armenia, have become more polarised since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, others, like Finland, have become more united in face of the new threat situation. According to the authors, ‘over the long term a lack of societal cohesion can itself become a factor in insecurity that heightens the risk of conflict.’
For a long time, Finnish society had been divided on the issue of joining NATO. However, since 2022 public and political support for membership has been consistently high. In Moldova and Armenia, the war has heightened internal social tensions caused by the energy crisis, inflation, and dissent over relations with Russia and the countries’ geopolitical alignment. ‘The consequences of this for the respective societies and economies include out-migration, further brain drain or even international isolation (as in the case of Belarus),’ the authors conclude.
Report based on KonKoop workshop
The KonKoop In:Security Report is based on the 2023 workshop ‘In:Security in Border Regions’ organised by the research network ‘Cooperation and Conflict in Eastern Europe’ (KonKoop), which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). KonKoop examines various conflict constellations and dynamics of cooperation in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. It comprises six academic institutions from across Germany and is associated with many international partners. The Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) is the project’s lead partner. At ZOiS, Nadja Douglas coordinates KonKoop’s In:Security topic line, which takes a bottom-up approach to security and insecurity. The results will be published periodically in the KonKoop In:Security Reports.
Publication:
Nadja Douglas, Weronika Grzebalska, Kornely Kakachia, Andrei Kazakevich, Asbed Kotchikian, Yuliia Kurnyshova, Inna Șupac and Joni Virkkunen, Old Fears and New Threats: Insecurity and Societal Cohesion in Russia’s Neighbourhood, KonKoop In:Security Report 1/2024.
