Introduction -- Premises, Origin and Scope of Regional Integration Agreements in the CIS Area: The Commonwealth of Independent States -- The Eurasian Economic Union -- The Union State of Russia and Belarus -- The Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM -- The Scope and the State of Institutional Integration Within the CIS Area -- The Economic Environment for Regional Integration of the CIS Countries: The Economic Situation of Particular Countries Researched -- Intensity of Trade in the CIS Area -- The Scope of Trade Integration of CIS Countries -- Selected Non-economic Factors of the Regional Integration of the CIS Countries: Directions of Constitutional Changes in the Context of Relations Between State Authorities -- Concepts of Political Leadership in the CIS Region -- Key Vectors of Foreign Policy in Countries of the CIS Region -- Sources and Consequences of Major Domestic and International Conflicts in the CIS Area -- The Model of Economic and Political Relations and Regional Integration Processes in the CIS Area: Russian Federation -- Eastern European Post-soviet Countries -- South Caucasus Countries -- Central Asian Post-soviet Countries -- Conclusions.

This book investigates the economic, political and cultural factors that influence regional economic integration processes as well as international political cooperation in the area of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The authors analyze market integration manifested in interregional trade, investment and service connections. Taking a constructivist approach, they shed new light on how national, ethnic, religious and linguistic factors as well as systems of government, political regimes and models of leadership shape foreign-policy decision-making in various post-Soviet countries.