Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This is a mixed methods study. Europe's boundaries are changing; three of the former communist states joined NATO in April 1999 and these and others move towards membership of the European Union. But a newly expanded Europe will have profound implications, not only for its own members but also for the states that will lie beyond its extended boundaries. The former Soviet republics in particular are not simply new neighbours but states that are emerging with varying degrees of success from communist rule; the relationship they establish with a newly expanded Europe is likely in its turn to influence their ability to consolidate the institutions of democracy and to establish effective markets. The project examined these issues through four related strategies of inquiry: (1) a nationally representative survey in the first half of 2000 in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova; (2) focus groups in each of these countries and Russia, including one in each case with junior military personnel (available in Russian only); (3) approximately 140 elite interviews, designed to tap the foreign policymaking community including military and strategic elites, with participants speaking under the 'Chatham House' rule. In addition, (4) the investigators themselves undertook a close study of the indigenous press and journal literature. Only (1) and (2) are held at the UK Data Archive (UKDA). In addition to substantive findings, presented in the publications listed in the final report (available through REGARD), the larger purpose was to contribute to a better informed, more differentiated approach by Western policymakers to the issues that arise from the expansion of NATO and the EU eastwards. Equally, the aim was to contribute to the methodology that is appropriate for the analysis of post-communist foreign relations, including elite and mass levels, and qualitative as well as quantitative dimensions.Main...