The Eastern Partnership’s contribution to security in Europe: bringing the political back in?

Simao, Licinia (2015) The Eastern Partnership’s contribution to security in Europe: bringing the political back in? [Conference Proceedings] (Submitted)

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Abstract

The analysis of European security has evolved considerably over the last decades, reflecting the dynamic shifts in security studies but also the continuous reshaping of the institutional setting in the European continent. One of the most relevant features of this process is the increased prominence of the European Union as a security provider, resulting from its enlargement process and the establishment of security and defence structures. The Eastern Partnership (EaP), however, has suffered from the very beginning from the lack of a clear vision within EU structures, regarding the type of contribution it would give to this changing security context. This paper puts forward new approaches to the study of European security, informed by post-structuralist perspectives on international politics and international security. The argument for using such approaches rests with the desire to understand the formative processes that shape the current European security order and to place the EaP in this framework. It is our contention that by doing this, we will be better prepared to identify the fundamental contradictions of this policy and its flaws. Building on an eclectic combination of authors from social theory and political sociology, the paper uses the concepts of politics and political to understand how security is being defined in Europe. From the analysis, it becomes clear that the EU’s promotion of a depolicised form of politics resonates more with the maintenance of hegemonic and hierarchical forms of stability and order, than with partnerships and emancipating forms of security. This is problematic in many ways, not least due to the subjectivities it creates, but also because of the lack of objective results in providing security.

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