ABSTRACT
Border policies present a particularly revealing object for analysis, exactly because they do not necessarily deal with military threats. Among various border-related policies, visas are the most versatile tool of marking the Self and the Other. Visas allow the same physical border to be socially constructed differently for various groups. A visa-waiver regime with the US, for instance, reflects the particular culture of friendship existing between the EU and Washington as it 'dismantles the strict self/other coordinates'. Despite the events of August and the subsequent chilling of relations, the Visa Dialogue was carried on actively during the first half of the year, with the second and third blocks of the dialogue discussed in February and April 2008. Multiple expert visits to Russia and to the EU Member States and completion of questionnaires by both sides in 2012-2013. The current role structure of open rivalry between the EU and Russia did not develop in a single day following the Ukrainian events.
