Russia's Customs Union to Eurasian Union: An Evolution (Part 2)

Editor's Note: This is the second part of a series examining how the expansion of Russia's multinational economic grouping is designed to further Moscow's control in its near abroad. Read Part 1 here.

The Customs Union is one of many strategies Russia is using to increase — or at least gauge — its influence and position in the former Soviet Union. The union should therefore be viewed not only in terms of the technical aspects of customs synchronization but also in terms of the deeper meaning and intention behind it. This drive to expand influence is part of Russia's traditional geopolitical imperatives, which have manifested in many institutional forms, from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union to the Customs Union and soon the Eurasian Union.