New Eastern Europe Magazine Jan-March Vorige editie

At the outbreak of 2020, tensions are on the rise – not only in our region but also in global affairs. If the final weeks of 2019 were any indicator, this decade may indeed bring a new level of instability and uncertainty towards the future. Thus, in this issue we dig deeper to explore the emerging trends in the world and try to better understand what they mean for the region on which we focus. Among the issues that we consider vital now are political polarisation, growing populism, the battle of narratives, economic shifts and the start of the next generational change.
The issue opens with an interview with American analyst Brian Whitmore, who explains these new trends in detail, looking in particular at Russia, Ukraine and the mood in Washington DC ahead of this year’s US presidential election. The provocative essay by Paweł Kowal outlines why we may be nearing the end of a second belle époque and what this means for the West. Kowal argues that the growing power of the oligarchy is becoming an underestimated trend in the West and poses a serious danger to democracy.
Another trend that we address in this issue is the growing call from some western politicians, experts and media for better relations with Russia and the Kremlin, despite no progress in the war in Ukraine (and constant attempts to undermine the western democratic process). Most vocal and prominent were Emmanuel Macron’s statements calling for a renewed strategic dialogue with Russia. Likewise, a recent issue of Foreign Affairs published Thomas Graham’s essay meant to convince US policy-makers to “let Russia be Russia” and give up on any Euro-Atlantic ambitions of the post-Soviet space. We believe that New Eastern Europe should be at the centre of this debate, which is far from over. We asked a group of experts to weigh in on this discussion – including from the United States, France, Germany, Poland and Russia.