Studies in Central and Eastern Europe "The CIS, the EU and Russia: Challenges of Integration" focuses on the challenges of integration that face countries in the post-Soviet space, in particular Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The book explores these challenges and analyses the links between various integration mechanisms (including the EU), state policies and elite interests in the territory of the former Soviet Union. While research on the EU policy of the post-Soviet states has been intensified in recent years, the CIS dimension has remained relatively under-researched. Furthermore, the EU and the CIS dimensions are normally treated separately. The aim of this book is to combine both dimensions under the angle of the integration processes and to analyze them as mutually dependent processes. The book consists of three parts. The introductory part gives an overview of CIS integration since 1991 and the substantial role that Russia has played in this process up until the present day. The second part focuses...