The Eurasian Union: Future of Integration or Failure in the Making

The idea of the Eurasian Economic Union, or the EEU, was first brought up by Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazerbaev in 1994. By 2015, the Russian Federation, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed the Treaty for the Establishment of the EEU, making the idea a reality. e EEU currently occupies nearly 15% of the earth’s land, and is the 12th largest economy in the world. However, very little is known about this integration project. Criticized as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pet project, and a hollow imitator of the European Union, the EEU now faces challenges of imbalance, inequity, and further integration. However, the economic bloc is poised to expand, with talks of incorporating Iran and Turkey into the Union. With the European Union weakened by this summer’s Brexit, the question remains whether the EEU will take the opportunity to expand into new spaces or whether integration projects all around the world are stalled in the anti-integration political environment. Looking at the history, politics, and possibilities for the EEU, this analysis will examine the nuances of this largely unstudied organization and predict its future