The ‘Fifth Freedom’ in the Eurasian Economic Union: Theory, International Experience, and Substantive Content

This article provides a theoretical and practical justification for the concept of the fifth freedom (the freedom of knowledge) for the Eurasian Economic Union as a necessary stage in the development of integration in the context of intensifying geopolitical competition. The authors argue that modern regional integration goes beyond purely economic logic and incorporates humanitarian, normative, and value-based dimensions. A comparative analysis of the approaches of Turkey, China, and the United States to interaction with post-Soviet countries demonstrates that leading external actors utilize tools of humanitarian influence to advance their interests. The US approach relies on the network of loyal NGOs and media outlets established in the post-Soviet space over the past decades, China is developing its own infrastructure of humanitarian influence, and Turkey is developing a common value-based and ideological space. The further development of the Eurasian Economic Union and the successful technological modernization of its member countries are impossible without the formation of a common scientific and educational space. The fifth freedom initiative could become an adequate response to new challenges in global politics and the competitive environment of regional integration.

References

Acharya, A., and Johnston, A. I. (eds.) Creating Cooperation. Regional International Institutions in Comparative Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Baikov, A. A. “Modeli integratsionnoi ekspansii v zarubezhnoi Evrope i Vostochnoi Azii,” Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriia 25. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia i mirovaia politika, No. 4, 2011, pp. 57–74.
Baikov, A. A. Sravnitel'naia integratsiia. Praktika i modeli integratsii v zarubezhnoi Evrope i Tikhookeanskoi Azii. Moscow: Aspekt Press, 2012.
Börzel, T. A. Comparative Regionalism: A New Research Agenda. London: Routledge, 2011. 
Butorina, O. V., and Borko, Iu. A. “Vygody regional'noi integratsii: peresmotr kontseptsii,” Sovremennaia Evropa, No. 1, 2022, pp. 5–20.
Chmyreva, V. A. “Ukraina, Turtsiia, Velikobritaniia: kontury sotrudnichestva, riski i vozmozhnosti dlia Rossii,” Postsovetskie issledovaniia, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 226–233.
Demir, C. “The Organization of Turkic States: Implications for the Regional Balance of Power,” Güvenlik Stratejileri Dergisi, Special Issue: A New Era in Turkic World: The Organization of Turkic States, 2022, pp. 39–71.
Fenenko, A. V. “Zarubezhnye al'ternativy evraziistvu kak potentsial'nyi vyzov dlia Rossii,” Analiz i prognoz. Zhurnal IMEMO RAN, No. 1, 2024, pp. 52–68.
Ivanov, A. Iu. “Dat' znaniiam svobodu,” Rossiia v global'noi politike, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2016, pp. 88–106.
Kharkevich, M. V. “Regional'noe upravlenie: opyt postroeniia mnogourovnevoi modeli sravnitel'nogo regionalizma,” Politiia: Analiz. Khronika. Prognoz, No. 2, 2017, pp. 129–145.
Kheifets, B. A. Novaia model' mezhdunarodnoi ekonomicheskoi integratsii. Moscow: Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 2023.
Mikhailenko, A. N. “Tsivilizatsionnye aspekty razvitiia Evraziiskogo ekonomicheskogo soiuza,” Bol'shaia Evraziia: razvitie, bezopasnost', sotrudnichestvo: Ezhegodnik, Vol. 5, P. 1, ed. V. I. Gerasimov. Moscow: INION, 2022, pp. 478–482.
Murray, P. “Comparative Regional Integration in the EU and East Asia: Moving beyond Integration Snobbery,” International Politics, Vol. 47, No. 3–4, 2010, pp. 308–323.
Ratai, T. V. “Rost zatrat na nauku v Rossii: itogi 2023 goda,” Vysshaia shkola ekonomiki, September 17, 2024, URL: https://issek.hse.ru/news/963240693.html
Rautakivi, T., and Yolles, M. “Culture, Mindset and Functionality in Regional Organisations: A Study on ASEAN and the European Union,” Preprints, June 5, 2023, URL: https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202305.2091 
Smirnov, V. A. “ ‘Bor'ba integratsii’ na postsovetskom prostranstve: gumanitarnoe izmerenie,” Sovremennaia Evropa, No. 6, 2018, pp. 51–62.
Sutyrin, V. V. “Peresborka postsovetskoi Evrazii: liderskii potentsial Rossii v usloviiakh vneshnego davleniia,” Rossiia i mir: nauchnyi dialog, No. 3, 2024, pp. 22–33.
Sutyrin, V. V. “Transformatsiia politiki SShA, ES i KNR v oblasti sodeistviia razvitiiu na fone mezhderzhavnogo sopernichestva,” Mezhdunarodnye protsessy, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2023, pp. 53–82.
Yaldiz, F. “The Political Vision of the Organization of Turkic States: An Analysis of the Turkic World Vision 2040,” Eurasian Research Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023, pp. 61–79. 
Yesevi, Ç. G. “Examining the Organization of Turkic States: A Teacher and Norm-Creator,” PERCEPTIONS: Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 27, No 1, 2022, pp. 2–25.
Yi Feng, and Genna, G. M. “Regional Integration and Domestic Institutional Homogeneity: A Comparative Analysis of Regional Integration in the Americas, Pacific Asia and Western Europe,” Review of International Political Economy, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2003, pp. 278–309.
Zubarev, A. E., Gasanov, E. A., and Krasota, T. G. “Neoindustrial'naia ekonomika i institutsional'nye mekhanizmy obespecheniia ee ustoichivogo razvitiia v usloviiakh Chetvertoi promyshlennoi revoliutsii,” Vestnik Tikhookeanskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, No. 2, 2024, pp. 119–126.