The Politics of the Black Sea Region by Weaver Carol

Author:Weaver, Carol.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2013-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

Conclusions

Whilst from an EU perspective it is reasonable to regard the countries around the Black Sea as the neighbourhood it is also the neighbourhood of Russia, Turkey and all other nearby states. The US has also had a strong interest and after the collapse of communism it decided not to allow Russia to continue to dominate this area. Therefore the area can now be described as multipolar because no single power can easily make a bid for hegemony. Nevertheless attempts at regionalising the wider Black Sea area have often met with suspicion. The regionalisation process has usually been attempted by Turkey, Russia, the EU or NATO, all of which have been seen as wanting to dominate the area or have a ‘sphere of influence’. Energy and pipelines have also been divisive factors in the wider region (see Chapter 5).

It would seem that there has been, and still is, much competition in the region for spheres of influence not only between Russia and the US, but between all four of the poles which include Turkey and the EU in addition. In fact the EU’s policies of bilateral and multilateral relations with the neighbourhood can be viewed as an attempt to establish its own sphere of influence. It could therefore be said that the EU’s policy of regionalisation is affected by US–Russian tensions but to some degree it has added to the general tensions of the region. NATO previously had a similar problem.

All of the tensions would seem to indicate that the Black Sea region is far from becoming a cooperative security community based on the EU model and that it is still very much a zone of conflict and a region of former superpower rivalry. Nevertheless there are signs of more cooperation in the region despite the lack of progress on some fronts such as improved democracy.

There is also clear evidence of regional multipolarity. The EU, Russia, the US and Turkey are all very much involved in the region when it comes to exerting either their soft or their hard power.

1 The legal situation of access to the Black Sea is dictated by the Montreux Convention, 1936.

2 See: http://www.wp.mil.pl/en/artykul/9334-24/5/2010

3 http://www.abkhazworld.com edited by Metin Sönmez.

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