Conflict management we „wspólnym sąsiedztwie” Unii Europejskiej i Rosji : między soft i hard power

The goal of this study is to analyse the involvement of the EU and Russia in conflict management in the ‘shared neighbourhood’, i.e. the six East European and South Caucasus countries (Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). Due to the broad understanding of conflict management, which may relate to political, economic, ethnic and armed conflicts, this analysis will focus on managing only the latter. In the case of the discussed region, this means the conflicts in: Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia. The comparison of the EU and Russian armed conflict managing actions allows for determining the efficiency of soft and hard power used by these two international actors. The European Union received the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for having contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights. Therefore, it seems important to answer the following question: Can its experience benefit the EU in managing the post-Soviet region?