Moldova between Russia and the West: a Delicate Balance

Crimea and the start of the undeclared and still unfinished war in eastern Ukraine has resulted in a new, Cold War– like division of Europe. On one side of the divide are the security, political, and economic structures of NATO and the EU with their capital in Brussels. On the other side is Russia. Left between them are several countries in Eastern Europe: Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. All of them are former parts of the Soviet Union. All of them have struggled with the challenges of post-Soviet transition. All are now caught up in a geopolitical tug-of-war between Russia and Europe. And for all of them, their post-Soviet transition has become vastly more challenging as a result of the breakdown of Europe’s post–Cold War security order.