The changing nature of security, the enlargement of European institutions and the evolving functions of the EU have been key developments in post-Cold War Europe. This book blends these three crucial developments in a sophisticated and illuminating manner. It assesses the impact of EU enlargement on both pre-existing security arrangements and key relationships with the EU’s new partners and ‘neighbours’. It also investigates both hard and soft, and internal and external security issues, ranging from military intervention to terrorism and from organised crime to human rights. From this it concludes that enlargement has both positive and negative implications for European security. Completing the analysis, this study examines the evolving security relationships with key states, regions and international organisations in the EU’s ‘neighbourhood’. The examination of relations with Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, the Greater Middle East and the Balkans provides a sense of the direction in which European security politics is moving.

The sudden transformation of the Cold War security order in 1989 altered the structure of the European state system, and necessitates the striking of a new balance between the economic, political and military requirements of security. This volume focuses on the most important institutions of European security, the European Union and NATO. Both institutions are expanding, especially eastwards, in terms of their respective roles and membership.

This report reflects the discussions at seven meetings in 2000-2001 of the Reflection Group set up jointly with the Group of Policy Advisors of the European Commission and the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, Florence. The discussions were based on a set of expert papers commissioned for the Reflection Group.

Under the impact of accelerated globalization, transnational integration and international security concerns, the geopolitics of Europe's borders and border regions has become an area of critical interest. The progressive enlargement of the EU has positioned its borders at the heart of recent discussions on the changing nature of the EU, the meaning of 'Europe' and what constitutional shape a more politically unified Europe might take. With enlargement, the EU must elaborate strategies to contend with a fiercely competitive world - and to build fortress-like defences against perceived tensions arising from greater cultural mixing and threats such as terrorism. The authors build up an integral picture of the EU's internal and external borders and borderlands to reveal the processes of re-bordering and social change currently taking place in Europe. They explore issues such as security, immigration, economic development and changing social and political attitudes, as well as the EU's relations with the Islamic world and other world powers. The book embraces an array of disciplinary, ideological and theoretical perspectives, offering detailed case studies of different border regions and the concerns of the local inhabitants, while engaging in broader discussions of developments across Europe, state policies and the EU's relations with neighbouring states. Geopolitics of European Union Enlargement will be of key interest to students and researchers in the fields of European politics, geography, international studies, sociology and anthropology.

This volume looks at the process of enlargment which the European Union is currently undertaking, focusing on both the economic and political dimensions of the subject. The volume examines how enlargment has evolved and looks at the roles and relations of the different actors - member states, applicant states and EU institutions. With contributors coming from different disciplinary backgrounds, the volume offers an unusually rich array of perspectives on one of the most significant political developments of recent years.

"The Enlargement of Europe examines the debates surrounding the expansion of the pst-Cold War enlargement of the principal European institutions: the European Union, NATO, the Western European Union, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. All were founded during the Cold War but since then have had to adjust to the dramatic changes that have taken place. They now face demands both to enlarge their functions and enlarge their membership to admit states from central, eastern and southern Europe. The extent and speed with which the process of enlargement will take place will be the most important factor in determining the future development of Europe. This book, employing a political science approach, is the first to analyse all the main European organisations. It focuses on three main questions: (i) is there one or several visions guiding the enlargement process? (ii) have there been separate motives for enlargement between the different organisations? and (iii) has there been a deliberate policy by Western governments to pursue a 'cost-free' expansion process?" --