Geopolitically mapping Eastern Europe

The relationships on the European continent and beyond have shifted dramatically following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This policy brief uses Clingendael’s geopolitical mapping methodology to provide an overview of not only the changes that have occurred among the three Eastern European countries considered at the core of this analysis – Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova – but also their relationships with the wider region and global powers, and the consequences of those shifts for regional dynamics. It visualises how February 2022 crystallised these countries’ positions vis-á-vis each other and other regional and global actors and discusses the ramifications of the geopolitical dynamics in Eastern Europe for the EU approach, providing several recommendations.

Authors:

Marina Ohanjanyan - Senior Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute
Bart Visser - Research Assistant at the Clingendael Institute