Abstract
The essay proceeds from the assumptions that for a economic/political
integration group to succeed, first, its participants’ motives should ideally be as alike
as possible and not oppose one another and, second, their expectations from integration should correspond to the organisation’s capabilities. In light of these
assumptions, the study endeavours to assess the Eurasian Economic Union’s
(EAEU) potential for stability and development. First, the author analyses the key
motives that were driving its member states’ decisions to enter the organisation,
compares them with one another and discusses how the countries’ motives influence
their conduct in the union. Second, the author confronts those motives against the
EAEU’s activities and the general logic of interstate politics on the post-Soviet
space to reckon up whether the bloc’s capabilities fit with the expectations of its
member countries. Finally, based on that discussion, the author speculates on how
the divergence/convergence of EAEU member states’ goals, as well as the (in-)feasibility of their expectations, affect the organisation’s development.