The NEW STRATEGIC UNION Russia and Europe before XXI-st century challenges: possibilities of «the grand deal» the New book of the director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) (Faculty of Economic and World Politics, SU-HSE) Timofey Bordachev

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This is not political journalism but a serious study of the present situation and the possibilities of developing the EU-Russia relations. It was a long road from an unrestrained optimism of the 1990's to a growing mistrust, and now when both sides have independently realized the common challenges, there is one step to make - albeit a hard one but nevertheless possible - by signing a number of mutual security agreements, which will necessarily fall short of a fundamental treaty that the author deems to be unsustainable. Unlike those journalists who support the state propaganda line, the author is far from exclusively blaming the EL) for all the difficulties of contact. He is convincing in registering quite a number of lapses committed in the past and present by Russian diplomacy as well as its bureaucracy. Unlike the purely academic studies, the author is not satisfied with an observer's position, taking the risk to propose an outline- of his own project of modus vivendi with the EU at the time when the previous global order is no longer valid.