Pre-War Archive

Dimitrios TRIANTAPHYLLOU, Center for International and European Studies, Turkey. There is no clear trend as to the direction the Black Sea Region is going towards today. The verdict is still out as to whether, in geopolitical terms, it is border region or a «‘bridge or buffer zone’, a ‘pivot’ that lies at the centre of a Mackinder-type ‘geopolitical heartland’».

Valeri RATCHEV, Director, Political Cabinet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Bulgaria. Nine times out of ten the wider Black Sea area is pictured in security analyses as a cross-field of geopolitical regions («region-between-regions») in which prevailing players exercise different instruments of power with the intention to establish some kind of control – political, economic, and even military.

Tengiz PKHALADZE, Chairman, International Centre for Geopolitical Studies, Georgia. Razumkov Centre’s Roundtable. The Black Sea region instead of cooperation has been turned into the scene of geopolitical confrontation. The Russian Federation – after the World War II, the Black Sea was actually placed under the control of the Soviet empire. As the USSR successor, the Russian Federation is still enthralled by its old ambitions...

BSNews editorial note. We continue to publish a series of reports of the Commission on the Black Sea which reassess the economic, social, regional political and military developments in the Black Sea region. This is a final part of the first report which provides a better understanding of the parameters of the economic developments in the Black Sea. Its author – Panayotis GAVRAS.

BSNews editorial note. We continue to publish a series of reports of the Commission on the Black Sea which reassess the economic, social, regional political and military developments in the Black Sea region. This is a continuation of the first report which provides a better understanding of the parameters of the economic developments in the Black Sea. Its author – Panayotis GAVRAS.

Andrei KLIMENKO, BSNews, translation from Russian by Alexey Soloviev, BSNews. The year has started, the one of the 20^th year post-Soviet anniversaries of 1991-2011 and the Crimean anniversary of the referendum on re-establishment of the autonomy. 20 years, that’s really a lot of time. And through these notes your author wants to encourage the Crimean and non-Crimean intellectuals to think over the route...

Andrei KLIMENKO, BSNews, translation from Russian by Alexey Soloviev, BSNews. The year has started, the one of the 20^th year post-Soviet anniversaries of 1991-2011 and the Crimean anniversary of the referendum on re-establishment of the autonomy. 20 years, that’s really a lot of time. And through these notes your author wants to encourage the Crimean and non-Crimean intellectuals to think over the route...

Recalls that the Black Sea region needs active policies and long-lasting solutions to cope with the considerable regional and transnational challenges facing it, such as protracted conflicts, displaced populations, bilateral disputes, closed borders and strategic rivalries leading to militarisation and proliferation of arms, weak institutions and governance and the deterioration of democratic rule, border and movement management, and poor maritime security and safety;

...Whereas the Black Sea Synergy (BSS) has had the merit of recognising the Black Sea region as strategic for the EU, together with the need for strengthened EU involvement in the area; whereas BSS results have so far been rather limited and no clear and comprehensive picture exists of the current implementation results of the BSS, exposing the EU to criticism that it lacks a strategic vision for the region and that it is applying a fragmented approach to implementation...

BSNews editorial note. We continue to publish a series of reports of the Commission on the Black Sea which reassess the economic, social, regional political and military developments in the Black Sea region. This report provides a better understanding of the parameters of the economic developments in the Black Sea. Its author – Panayotis GAVRAS.

Andrei KLIMENKO, Tatyana GUCHAKOVA, BSNews. Unfortunately, a new engagement of the Crimea into the framework of interests of Europe is once again, as in 1853, connected with the war – the Russian-Georgian conflict, which started during the night of 7 to 8 August 2008. But this time the interest of Europe may give the Crimea a chance. Though the Crimea has already missed quite a number of opportunities...

The Commission on the Black Sea, www.blackseacom.eu. The increased geopolitical volatility of the region has proven, time and again, that unresolved issues can ignite into open warfare. Its festering conflicts retard economic development and have the potential to flare up into wider conflagrations. While the opportunity to transfer Caspian oil and gas to European markets raises hopes for regional economic development and prosperity, competition to control pipelines, shipping lanes and transport routes to secure increased political and economic influence...