On the Issue of the Conceptual Justification of the Unification of the USRB in Modern Discourse

The article discusses issues of theoretical understanding and conceptual foundations of Russian-Belarusian integration, which found expression in the formation and development of the Union State (USRB). The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that the understanding of the process of unification of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, carried out by both theorists and practitioners of Russian and Belarusian politics, serves as its conceptual basis. The difference in the stages of understanding integration transformations reflects changes in geopolitical and domestic factors that have accompanied the process of formation of the USRB over the past decades. The purpose of the article was to analyze and periodize the theoretical understanding and conceptual justification of Russian-Belarusian integration aimed at building the Union State. Its objectives: 1. to define and compare the main stages of theoretical understanding of the USRB and its integration prerequisites; 2. a brief analysis of the components of the Russian, Belarusian and foreign political discourse of Russian-Belarusian integration. The methodological basis of the study was the combination of geopolitical and neorealist approaches, which made it possible to consider the USRB as an important component of the current transformations of the international system. In addition, the approaches of the theory of international relations were complemented by an institutional and systemic vision. The result of the work was the understanding that the theoretical understanding and conceptual justification for the integration of Russia and Belarus, ultimately implemented in the format of the USRB, was carried out at the level of scientific understanding of the processes of Russian-Belarusian unification and discourse, formed on the basis of the rhetoric of politicians of each state, as well as representatives of foreign thought. The basis for the theoretical understanding of the USRB was formed by areas of research that studied its institutional structure and general essence, the set of components of integration processes that expanded in accordance with historical periods, as well as the international aspects of Russian-Belarusian interaction.  The presented theoretical research suggests a wide range of further applied research: starting from the regulatory framework of the State Security Service and its institutional structure, and ending with the processes of implementing union programs and determining its role in the transforming world system.

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