of The PhD Thesis by Bogdana DEPO 'Goliath Versus Goliath: EU Democracy Promotion in the Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia's Alternative Agenda' The proclamation of the ultimate victory of the liberal democracy, which was popular in the 1990s, has clearly become inconsistent today, especially if one looks at the Eastern Partnership countries. Whereas EU was the biggest democracy promoter in the world, establishing stable democracy in its Eastern European neighbourhood remains a challenge. The main assumption of these thesis is that Russia's competitive agenda has outbalanced EU's efforts in democracy promotion, or at least challenged it. This competition was manifested by considerable evolution of the policy instruments developed by both competitive actors. Goliath versus Goliath describes EU's growing assertiveness with democracy promotion and Russia's alternative agenda which offsets EU's influence in the shared neighbourhood. Theoretically speaking it might appear as a clash of the liberal democracy concept versus realism. The main conclusion of these thesis is that the EU was not be able to advance its democracy promotion as every new step in democratization was met with a spiral of Russia's assertive actions.

The European Union (EU) governance is very complex. Also, in order to have an impact on the democratic transformation of national settings in its Eastern Neighbourhood there is a need for the EU to govern more effectively. How can we understand the relations between the EU and countries in its Eastern Neighbourhood? Has the EU regional governance been able to bring positive change by influencing domestic processes including democratic institution-building in the region? What challenges has the EU encountered in its Eastern Neighbourhood and how has it responded to them? Even at times when the EU’s performance is being questioned by policy-makers and in academic literature, the EU retains a strong focus on sectoral and regional policies, along with a consistent presence in neighbouring countries. The six research papers of this thesis examine important aspects of regional development of the EU and its governance of the Eastern Neighbourhood. These analyses determine that the EU’s understanding of the governance of its Eastern Neighbourhood has developed and varied to a substantial degree since introduction of the European Neighbourhood Policy followed by addition of the Eastern Partnership. The papers provide empirical qualitative analysis on the factors shaping EU regional performance and address institutional, political, and cultural challenges that Ukraine and Belarus face in terms of democratization and regional cooperation. In addition, these papers engage with debates on borders and bordering in order to study the neighbourhood transformations through the European Neighbourhood Policy. New priorities, such as border management and a focus on multilateral initiatives under the Eastern Partnership, signalled the continuation of a region-based approach employed by the EU and the recognition of shared values, common traditions, and histories among neighbours in the EU’s shared borderland. / Graduate

La présente thèse vise à étudier le rôle stratégique de l'UE au-delà de ses frontières, à expliquer et à évaluer la politique de sécurité que l'Union a poursuivie à l'égard des pays voisins de l'Est pendant plus de deux décennies depuis le début des années 1990, avec un accent particulier sur la Géorgie. L'objectif principal est d'examiner dans quelle mesure l'UE - une zone de paix et de sécurité - a réussi à devenir un acteur sécuritaire dans son voisinage de l'Est, étendant la paix et la stabilité hors de ses frontières, surtout en vue de la politique d'un autre acteur central, qui essaie de renforcer sa puissance dans le complexe sécuritaire régional, la Russie. D'une part, un certain nombre de questions empiriques interroge la substance du rôle sécuritaire de l'UE en explorant ses caractéristiques principales en tant qu'acteur sécuritaire. D'autre part, l'étude s'intéresse à l'efficacité de la politique de l'UE à contribuer à la sécurité de la Géorgie. C’est dans le 'voisinage commun' que l'incompatibilité entre les intérêts et les instruments politiques de l'UE et la Russie devient apparente - les acteurs ayant des identités contrastées, proposant/représentant des modèles sécuritaires opposés pour la région. Pour analyser l'UE et la Russie en tant qu'acteurs sécuritaires en Géorgie et comprendre les implications de leurs politiques sécuritaires sur la région, cette étude s'interroge sur les principaux aspects qui sont intervenus dans la conception du rôle sécuritaire de l'UE, et ses performances - les facteurs qui ont contribué à renforcer ou bloquer l'efficacité du rôle sécuritaire de l'UE. / The present dissertation aims to study the strategic role of the EU beyond its borders, explain and assess the security policy that the Union has pursued towards its Eastern neighboring countries for more than two decades since the early 1990s with a particular focus on Georgia. The overall objective is to examine to what extent and how the EU - an area of peace and security - has been able to become a security actor in its Eastern neighborhood, extending peace and providing stability beyond its borders in view of security policy of another main actor seeking to increase its power projection in the regional security complex, Russia. From one side, a number of empirical questions inquire the substance of EU’s security role through exploring its main characteristics, and providing an understanding of how the EU functions as a security actor and explaining its particularity. From another side, the study is interested in the effectiveness of EU’s policy to contribute to Georgia’s security. It is in the 'shared neighborhood' that the incompatibility between the interests and political instruments of the EU and Russia becomes apparent - actors with contrasting identities an power natures, who provide opposing security models for the future of the region. To explore the EU and Russia as security actors in Georgia and get a better grip on the empirical meaning of their roles and implications of their policies on the region, this study questions the main aspects that have intervened in the conception of security roles by the EU and Russia, and their performance - the factors that have contributed or restrained the effectiveness of security role of the EU and Russia.