ABSTRACT
The notion of September 11, 2001, as “a day that changed the world” has become a truism. Al Qaeda’s dramatic attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York have led to two wars, a realignment of international alliances and coalitions, as well as – more generally – a distinct and almost instantaneous sense that a new chapter of international relations is about to be written. Indeed, according to John Lewis Gaddis, if the fall of the Berlin Wall signifi ed the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Twin Towers marked the end of the post-Cold War era.1 It seems almost natural, therefore, that intellectuals and policymakers have engaged in a sustained, though not always systematic, effort to reassess the continued relevance of major actors, relationships and institutions. The EU and Russia are two particularly interesting cases in point. Whereas Russia signifi ed the antagonism of the Cold War era, the European Union came to symbolize the hopes and aspirations in the immediate aftermath of the East-West confrontation – a period in which many believed that democracy and cooperation had eventually won the day.2
