Cooperative security in the Black Sea region

During the Cold War years, the Black Sea was treated as a barrier and borderline rather than an integral part of the European politics. With the end of the Cold War, The Black Sea area emerged as a region on the physical and intellectual map of Europe with its political, economical, and military dynamics. This thesis is a study on the role of cooperative initiatives to increase security in the Black Sea region within the framework of cooperative security. It aims to analyze the cooperative security efforts in the region with a certain emphasis on the post-Cold War developments. This study argues that the strategic importance of the Black Sea region to the West, and to Europe in particular has increased substantially in recent years. Provided the region’s geostrategic position as a natural link between Europe and Asia, and between Central Asia and the Middle East, it constitutes a vital trade link as well as an important area of transit. Moreover, instability and potential for conflict in the region, its energy sources, and its economic prospects matter to the international community. At the same time this study argues that the BSEC, GUUAM, and BLACKSEAFOR as main regional cooperative initiatives have contributed to the peace, security and stability of the Black Sea region with their various activities. It evaluates that the OSCE, NATO, and the EU as wider European organizations have played an important role in projecting security and stability to the region through their various mechanisms