Some Paradigms from the Evolving Map of Europe. CEPS Working Document No. 164, April 2001

Emerson, Michael. (2001) Some Paradigms from the Evolving Map of Europe. CEPS Working Document No. 164, April 2001. [Working Paper]

Preview

PDF Download (64Kb) | Preview

Abstract

Two sets of opposing paradigms governing the map of Europe are struggling to predominate at the beginning of this second decade of the post-communist era. At the macro (continental) level the struggle is between the Common European Home versus the Europe of Two Empires – the enlarging European Union, and a Russia newly re-assertive towards its near abroad. At the micro (state or entity) level the struggle is between the Nationalising State versus the Europe of Fuzzy Statehood. This double competition of paradigms is most intense and sensitive in Borderland Europe around the frontiers between the two empires, or in their Overlapping Peripheries. It seems that the Europe of Two Empires has much more political energy these days than the Common European Home; and in Borderland Europe the Nationalising State has more energy than Fuzzy Statehood. However these trends should be of concern, since they point to the persistence of tensions and in the worst cases conflicts. A successful and stable Europe would need to see more of the Common European Home and of Fuzzy Statehood. The EU has been instrumental in helping most of its candidate states largely overcome the problems of the post-communist transition through the incentives and demands of accession, and thus converge on the norms of the Common European Home, with elements of the Fuzzy Statehood package included. However in the Overlapping Peripheries of Borderland Europe there is no such mechanism, and many of these entities are stuck in a state of unresolved conflicts, demoralised poverty and confusion over their future. This is where a real strategic partnership between the EU and Russia, not just declarations, could be very useful. Such a partnership would, however, require much bigger political and economic investments than so far seen, as well as some rehabilitation of the Common European Home.

Actions (login required)