A jigsaw vs a game of chess: theoretical eclecticism in explaining EU-Russia relations

In this article, we reflect on analytical eclecticism as a research approach and apply it to EU-Russia relations. First, we sketch the conceptual contours of theoretical eclecticism in international relations. Next, we consider its explanatory potential, discuss some of the present criticism and conduct a brief exemplary analysis of its use. In the process, we focus on EU-Russia relations using the theoretical perspectives of both liberalism and realism. In this view, the EU’s and Russia’s decision makers are conceptualized as looking at their mutual relations (and international relations in general) through the lenses of both perspectives. The empirical case is “diversity management” between the EU and Russia including issues of states/territories with limited recognition (Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic of Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia).