Power in EU–Russia Relations: More than Meets the Eye

Relations between the EU and Russia cannot be understood without analysing the role of power. Yet, the reality of power in EU—Russia relations is much more complex than assumed when literature reduces power to a single factor such as military strength, economic size or control over resources. This chapter unravels this complexity by taking an approach that integrates different dimensions of power: compulsory, institutional and structural forms of power. This leads to a nuanced understanding of power, in which different dimensions of power feature simultaneously. It is argued that an important part of the power competition between the EU and Russia is fought on the subjective front of attribution and perception of power. It is against this background of multi-dimensional power relations and subjectivity that we can understand the strategic choices made in Brussels and Moscow. With the Ukraine crisis, the emphasis of the power struggle shifted from rivalry over identities and institutional arrangements in the neighbourhood to competition over control. Russia chose a course of weakening Western effective control and punching above its weight by creating maximal perceptions of power, while the EU moved towards a more explicit geopolitical position.