Russian Borderlands in Crisis: Assessing Geopolitical Change in the Eastern Baltic 2008-2022

该项目旨在研究2008年至2022年间俄罗斯西部边境地区最近的地缘政治变化。特别是，它试图回答这样的问题：欧盟-俄罗斯层面出了什么问题？东波罗的海的后果是什么？该研究将仔细研究2008年俄罗斯-格鲁吉亚战争、2014年克里米亚吞并、2015年叙利亚移民和2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰所带来的安全挑战的影响。本研究项目的概念框架来自边境研究的关键工作，并专注于边界制定的日常过程，如边境基础设施和跨境交通以及“重新边界”的国家政策。研究方法本质上是定性的，结合在波兰和立陶宛边境地区实地考察期间进行的精英访谈，以及对政治声明和媒体陈述的解释，而数据收集和分析将借鉴案例研究。这些数据将通过为俄欧边境的演变提供新的经验见解，用于进一步了解边境地区及其人民。考虑到俄罗斯对乌克兰的入侵，这一点尤其重要。俄罗斯入侵乌克兰再次导致这片边境地区成为俄罗斯与西方之间不安全的导火索。

This project aims to examine the recent geopolitical changes in Russia's western borderland between 2008-2022. In particular, it attempts to answer the question(s) of what went wrong at the EU-Russia level and what are the consequences for the Eastern Baltic? The research will closely examine the implications of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the security challenges stemming from Syrian migration in 2015 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The conceptual framework for this research project comes from critical work in Border Studies and concentrates on the everyday processes of border-making such as border infrastructure and cross-border traffic as well as state policies of 're-bordering'. The research methodology will be qualitative in nature-combining elite interviews conducted during a period of fieldwork in the border regions of Poland and Lithuania with the interpretation of political statements and media representations, while the data collection and analysis will draw on case study research. This data will be used to further knowledge of borderlands and its people by providing new empirical insights into the evolution of the Russian-European borderland. This is particularly important in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has once again led to the borderland becoming a flashpoint of insecurity between Russia and the West.