Fuzzy Politics Around Fuzzy Borders: The European Union's `Near Abroad'

Abstract

The external borders of the European Union (EU) are becoming increasingly difficult to delineate as it exports policies to states beyond its own membership. While the EU possesses a clearly defined membership, its borders are `fuzzy'. The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of these `fuzzy' borders on the EU's neighbours - and its resulting `fuzzy' politics. Two case studies are considered: the Baltic States and the Mediterranean. In each, the authors seek to assess the impact of EU relations with these two regions. Four tentative conclusions are drawn. First, the EU is indeed surrounded by regions that can be regarded as intermediate spaces between the inside and outside of the Union, and these regions have indeed become the targets of significant `policy-export'. Over time, the EU has developed substantial interests and significant influence in what can be called the `near abroad'. Second, the EU does not possess a coherent policy of dealing with this `near abroad'. An uneasy mix of initiatives often contradicts the stated goal of region-to-region relations. Third, EU relations with the two regions actually appear to serve rather opposing functions - simultaneously facilitating enlargement and non-enlargement. Finally, the regional impact of EU policies varies considerably as a consequence of the different geo-political and institutional context in the two regions.

Chinatown by numbers

“…Barni & Vedovelli, 2012;Ben-Rafael & Ben-Rafael, 2012;Malinowski, 2009;Vandenbroucke, 2015). Many of the spaces scrutinized in these works are characterized by what Christiansen, Petito, & Tonra (2000) refer to as 'fuzzy' borders. In other words, although ethnic enclaves are widely considered to be a part of the city, the points at which they begin and end are not apparent.…”

“…Further, the emplacement of the signs, all of which are visible at the intersections with Berry Street and Nelson Street, indicate that they are designed to be viewed from within Chinatown itself, to give an impression of a wider Chinese surround. Whilst this renders the borders fuzzy and subjective (Christiansen et al, 2000), it also suggests the purposeful construction of an imagined Chinese space, manufactured not by the streets themselves, but by the perspective one has of them when looking outward from the Nelson-Berry axis.…”

L’implication de l’Union européenne dans la résolution des conflits au Caucase du Sud

“…Le Caucase du Sud, formé de la Géorgie, de l'Azerbaïdjan et de l'Arménie, est en effet devenu une région charnière, placée aux frontières de l'Europe à la suite des élargissements successifs de 2004 et 2007. La perspective, même lointaine, d'une adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE renforce l'importance géostratégique de cette région située entre une Europe aux frontières fl oues et en pleine évolu-tion (Christiansen, Petito et Tora 2000), une Russie qui entend s'affi rmer comme l'acteur incontournable dans la région et un Iran au centre des préoccupations sécuritaires de la puissance américaine et d'Israël. Carrefour entre plusieurs cultures et religions, région de transit des hydrocarbures exploités en mer Caspienne, le Caucase du Sud se retrouve au centre d'enjeux géopolitiques de première importance.…”

The Narration of Europe in `National' and `Post-national' Terms

“…In this context, loyalty is shared rather than exclusive and identities, if not hybrid, are certainly multiple (Axford and Huggins, 1999), nested (Faist, 2001;Herb and Kaplan, 1999) or in a continuous flux (Stråth, 2002). Similarly, EUrope's external boundaries, rather than as fixed lines of separation, are narrated as porous, blurred, soft, and fuzzy (Christiansen et al, 2000;Waever, 1997;Zielonka, 2002).…”