Per Ekman: Foreign Policy After Empire: Explaining Georgia’s and Ukraine’s International Orientation from Independence until 2021

Abstract

What explains the foreign policy orientation of states with a background within empires? The dissertation explores this vital question by examining the foreign policies of Georgia and Ukraine – two states that became independent in 1991 after long periods within the Soviet Union. The dissertation develops a theory of foreign policy in post-imperial states, in conjunction with an empirical study that covers foreign policymaking in Georgia and Ukraine from independence until 2021. 

Drawing on a rich body of sources, which includes elite interviews conducted by the author, news articles, primary documents, diplomatic cables and secondary sources, the dissertation’s comparative approach sheds new light on almost 30 years of foreign policymaking in Georgia and Ukraine. The study finds that from the late 1990s, Georgia developed a surprisingly stable pro-western foreign policy that remained intact until 2021. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign policy was vague and incoherent in the 1990s, oscillating between the West and Russia, and remained so until 2014. Only in 2014 did Ukraine start to pursue a firm pro-western orientation, in a shift that contradicted the expectations of leading scholars of international relations, especially realists.  

To explain these foreign policy dynamics, the author argues that the structure of the political arena that crystallizes in a country after an imperial break-up is vital to determining a state’s ability to develop a coherent foreign policy. Furthermore, inspired by historical institutionalism, the author claims that formative moments, and whether they are violent, as well as the role played by the former imperial metropole in these periods are crucial to the foreign policy that is later developed by a state. 

Taken together, the dissertation emphasizes the need for scholars to engage more deeply with the multifaceted challenges faced by post-imperial states. The study also highlights the limitations of realist and liberal approaches to explaining Georgia’s and Ukraine’s foreign policies. Finally, the book contributes to a shift in perspective from great powers and imperial hegemons to focus on smaller powers in post-imperial relations – a necessary shift, not least among the countries that once belonged to the Soviet Union.