ABSTRACT

This essay uses the concept of security governance to explore the implications of Russia's intervention in Ukraine for the rules-based security order in Europe. It outlines key ideas in the literature about the post-Cold War European security order with respect to Russia's role and examines Russian debates on the Ukraine conflict. It then investigates European institutions’ reaction to the conflict in order to understand to what extent Russia's exclusion (as a result of the West's policy of containment and deterrence) or self-exclusion now constitutes a structural factor in the security politics of the wider Europe. The essay concludes with the analysis of the challenges facing both Europe and Russia and considers the prospects for re-shaping this order to give meaning to partnership and shared security governance.