Theoretical Approaches to the Black Sea Region: ‘Is the Wider Black Sea Area a Region?’

Abstract

The paper aims to shed light on how a region may be built out of the Black Sea area. Therefore, the paper asks, first, whether the Black Sea area is a region or a region-to-be. If neither, then how to transform the Black Sea area into a region through the context of ‘new regionalism’ and the relevant theories. First, it delves into defining what it means to be a ‘region’ in the context of ‘new regionalism’. Then, three different theories, i.e. neo-functionalism, neo-liberal institutionalism and constructivism, are unravelled to lay the foundation for the main query of the paper – ‘is the Wider Black Sea area a region’. Constructivism provides fertile ground for the most appropriate premises for constructing a region around the Black Sea in relation to new regionalism. Accordingly, the paper discovers the perils and opportunities lying ahead of any initiative to construct a region out of the Black Sea area. The paper offers that the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) acts as an anchor of the Wider Black Sea area and a catalyst for a new understanding of regionalism which is capable of taking root and thriving in the Black Sea area.

Keywords

• Neo-functionalism
• Neo-liberal institutionalism
• Constructivism
• Wider Black Sea Area
• Regionalism

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