ABSTRACT
Good economic governance is a security matter, just like the economy is part of the national hard power arsenal. While such commonplaces remain entrenched in political theory and rhetoric, they nonetheless find their way only very slowly and painfully in practical policy. The research in this book demonstrates that in a global environment of increasing permeability, the way a country conducts its international business has become a key factor to the integrity of its political regime. This chapter reviews the two main research-related implications of the analysis and evidence discussed in this book. The first concerns the model of association between economics and politics in an international setting. The other is the intricacies of combining the assessment of anecdotal evidence and data research. Understanding the Russian economic influence in Central and Eastern Europe requires both the quantitative study of trade, investment, and corporate relations, as well as the evaluation of individual actions, salient events, and symbolic institutions in a comparative perspective.
