New ‘dividing lines’ in Europe: A crisis of trust in European–Russian relations

The paper presents the materials of the special issue “Institutions, Networks and Trust in European–Russian relations” offering various interdisciplinary perspectives on EU–Russia relations. The positions of the authors of the special edition are analysed in the context of both Western and Russian literature on EU–Russia relations. This analysis is conducted within the framework of close to Constructivism “security community” approach that stresses the role of common interests, shared values, communications, interpersonal contacts and trust in overcoming conflicts. In this context, the emergence of new ‘dividing lines’ in Europe is considered as the result of crisis of trust and institutional crisis in EU–Russia relations. From this point of view the recent literature on the roots of European–Russian conflict, on connections between Russian domestic and foreign policy, on value-interest dilemma in Western–Russian relations, on the new Cold War/Cold Peace theory, on the structure of EU policy towards Russia and internal splits inside EU is reviewed.