Authors

Discussion

The unprecedented Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 raises a question about the ideational environment in the former soviet region. Historically, the Eurasian region has been a sphere of Russian influence. The ideational aspect of Eurasian regionalism, which is still under-studied in the field of comparative regionalism, is emphasized in this paper's discussion of Eurasian regional organizations (ROs). A major finding of regional specificity in the post-soviet space comes from the innovative examination of typical gender patterns of Eurasian bureaucracy linked to prevailing sets of values in Russian-led ROs.

The paper offers the first in-depth investigation of the bureaucracy of Eurasian ROs using a unique dataset on biographies of the key officials. The paper's conceptual foundation is Evolutionary Institutionalism as it was developed by the Dresden theory school and the sociological findings of Schalom Schwartz. The gender research of the Eurasian bureaucracy indicates a significant prevalence of traditional and conservative beliefs, socialistic mindsets, and Eurasian officials belonging to the 'old generation', the former Soviet elite. Conservative socialistic 'memplexes' are profoundly embedded at the institutional level in Eurasian regionalism and are continuously reproduced through ‘memetic replication' within Russia-led Eurasian ROs. Female bureaucrats represent a relic of the former Soviet Union rather than a sign of generational renewal, as the feminization of institutions does in Western democracies.