Identity, Societal Security and Regional Integration in Europe. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 7 No. 6 April 2007

Thiel, Markus (2007) Identity, Societal Security and Regional Integration in Europe. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 7 No. 6 April 2007.

Abstract

[Introduction]. An observer of current European politics may almost automatically assume that the regional integration process in Europe, led successfully by the European Union (EU) and reinforced by other organizations, has resulted in the weakening of national identities and the pacifying of potential identity-related conflicts in the area. A closer look, however, reveals that the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) in particular are still being caught in various security dilemmas ranging from the traditional military-related spheres to more subtle yet similarly destructive societal security issues with the potential to produce ethnic conflicts, even civil wars. The explanatory theoretical framework behind ‘societal security’ is fairly new and thus, often underestimated in the relative pacified European and Eurasian regions; yet, it presents a particular challenge to the multiethnic and fragile democracies there. In this paper, I compare the major international organizations present in the field (EU, NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe) and examine if there exists, at a minimum, a normative concern for minority rights and the promotion of societal security and secondly, what kind of institutional mechanisms and responses these organizations developed to attain these goals.