The Black Sea Region


Book Description

The ring of countries bordering the Black Sea make up one of the unstable subregions of former Soviet republics, satellites and neighbours. This volume analyses the security issues in the Black Sea region and the development of mechanisms that would promote cooperation and conflict management.




An Introduction to European Intergovernmental Organizations


Book Description

An Introduction to European Intergovernmental Organizations provides an up-to-date and accessible reference to European intergovernmental organizations other than the European Union. The EU is so dominant that people often overlook the multitude of older and newer, smaller and larger intergovernmental organizations rooted in the history of contemporary Europe which continue to help shape its future. The specialized character of these organizations adds value to cooperation in Europe as a whole, creates permanent channels of communication regardless of EU membership and allows the possibility for non-European involvement through organizations such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and NATO. It also allows sub regional groups of states, such as the Nordic countries or the Benelux countries to exist and express their own identity via their own organizations. This book looks at the history of Non-EU organizations, their decision-making characteristics, membership policies, legal powers actions and interactions with each other and the European Union. A uniform scheme of analysis is used to make European intergovernmental organizations comparable and by studying them we gain a deeper understanding and insight into European affairs.




The Geopolitical Black Sea Encyclopaedia


Book Description

Today, we know what the Black Sea is not from a strategic perspective, but we do not know what it is. This strategic indecision is the explanation for all the conflicts, frozen or not, explicit or tacit, and all the political and geopolitical tensions that are now taking place in this space and that are becoming endemic. The story of the Black Sea continues… This text is the first encyclopaedia explicitly dedicated to the geopolitics of the Black Sea, written for Western audiences, an academic research which appeals to the wider academic community, PhD students, professors, and researchers, and to any reader interested in geopolitics, history, international relations, economy, sociology, history, and geography.




The EU's New Black Sea Policy


Book Description

After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the European Union moved quickly to fill an obvious gap in its vision of the regions to its periphery, proposing the 'Black Sea Synergy'. The EU shows a certain degree of commonality in its approaches to the Baltic Sea region, the Mediterranean and now the Black Sea. While the political profiles of these maritime regions are very different, they naturally give rise to many common policy challenges. This paper sets out a 'typology of regionalisms' and examines where the EU's Black Sea Synergy is going to find its place. There is already evidence of a diplomatic ballet between the EU and Russia, with the EU countering Russia's pursuit of its own 'geopolitical regionalism'. The EU would like in theory to see its efforts lead to a 'transformative regionalism', but the lack of agreement so far over further extending membership perspectives to countries of the region risks the outcome being placed more in the category of 'compensatory regionalism'




The European Union and the Black Sea


Book Description

The idea for this book is derived from the scantiness of academic references on the European Union’s policies towards the Black Sea, relative to this region’s officially stated significance for the EU. Even though the EU plays a vital role in Black Sea political agendas, the EU’s cooperation with the region is not extensively covered by academic discussions and literature. This is mostly due to the fact that the EU’s focus on foreign affairs is mainly associated with the Balkans, as part the current and potential expansion, and the Middle East, as a direct consequence of the upheaval of the Arab Spring. The Black Sea region is crucially important for the EU because of the opportunities and challenges that the region presents, both politically and socio-economically. Contributions to this book mostly focus on specific issues of EU–Black Sea cooperation, from conflict to the environment to democracy, and how these particular relationships are perceived within the region as well as through the lenses of stakeholders such as Russia, Turkey, and the USA. Overall, the collection focuses on projecting a more efficient role and a holistic strategy for the EU in its approach towards the Black Sea region, testifying to the need for a strong EU presence. For this reason, the Black Sea area remains ‘the neighbourhood too close to, yet still far from, the European Union’. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies.




Russia's Impact on EU Policy Transfer to the Post-Soviet Space


Book Description

Russia's impact on EU policy transfer to the post-Soviet space has not been as negative as often perceived. EU policies have traveled to countries and issue areas, in which the dependence on Russia is high and Russian foreign policy is increasingly assertive. This book explores Russia's impact on the transfer of EU policies in the area of Justice, Liberty, and Security and energy policy - two policy areas in which countries in the EU's Eastern neighborhood are traditionally strongly bound to Russia. Focusing especially on Armenia and Georgia, it examines whether it is the structural condition of interdependence, the various institutional ties and similarities of neighboring countries with the EU and Russia, or their concrete foreign policy actions that have the greatest impact on domestic policy change in the region. The book also investigates how important these factors are in relation to domestic ones. It identifies conditions under which different degrees of EU policy transfer occur and the circumstances under which Russia exerts either supportive or constraining effects on this process. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of EU and European politics, international relations and comparative politics.




International Human Rights


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to international human rights -- international human rights law, why international human rights have increasingly risen to world prominence, what is being done about violations of human rights, and what might be done to further promote the cause of international human rights so that everyone may one day have their rights respected regardless of who they are or where they live. It explains: how the concept of international human rights has developed over time the variety of types of human rights (civil-political rights, economic-social rights, as well as a delineation of war crimes) empirical findings from statistical research on human rights institutional efforts to promote human rights an extensive listing of international human rights agreements identification of recent prosecutions of war criminals in domestic and international tribunals ongoing efforts to promote human rights through international aid programs the newest dimensions in the field of human rights (gay rights, animal rights, environmental rights). Richly illustrated throughout with case studies, controversies, court cases, think points, historical examples, biographical statements, and suggestions for further reading, International Human Rights is the ideal introduction for all students of human rights. The book will also be useful for human rights activists to learn how and where to file human rights complaints in order to bring violators to justice. The new edition is fully updated and includes new material on: the Obama presidency the Arab Spring and its aftermath the workings of the International Criminal Court quantitative analyses of human rights war crimes.




Eurasian Integration - The View from Within


Book Description

As Eurasia and the adjacent territories become more important to the world, there is increasing interest from international powers, accompanied by attempts to give institutional form to traditional economic and security links within the region. This book includes a range of substantive work from scholars based in the region, offering contrasting perspectives on the process of Eurasian integration and its place in the world. Chapters consider economic, political, social and security developments, with notable studies of the major countries involved in the development of the Eurasian Economic Union. The work also examines the connections between the region and China, greater Asia and the European Union. It outlines the varying dynamics, with populations growing in Central Asia while at best stagnant elsewhere. The book discusses the increasing strategic significance of the region and explores how the new post-Soviet states are growing in national cohesion and political self-confidence. Above all, the book examines the concept of ’Eurasia’, outlining the debates about the concept and how various aspects of the legacy of ‘Eurasianism’ contribute to contemporary plans for integration. The book argues that although regional integration is very much a popular idea in our age, with the potential for economic benefits and increased international influence, in practice contemporary projects for Eurasian integration have been highly ambiguous and contested. Nevertheless, significant steps have been taken towards the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union. The book analyses developments to date, noting the achievements as well as the challenges.




The Wider Black Sea Region in the 21st Century


Book Description

"In this volume leading scholars from Europe, Russia, the U.S. and the Black Sea itself address the dynamics of the wider Black Sea region, discuss major issues of conflict, and identify potential for cooperation. Their contributions result from a collaborative research project organized by the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, the Austrian Institute for International Affairs in Vienna, and the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation."--BOOK JACKET.