The EU’s Neighbourhood Policy towards the South Caucasus: Expanding the European Security Community (The European Union in International Affairs)

This book addresses the potential and limitations of the European Union Neighbourhood Policy in sustaining the expansion of the European security community towards the South Caucasus. The Caucasus’ complex regional security dynamics are a hard test for regional security community building and showcase both the challenges of security provision through liberal reforms and integration and of the interaction between security communities and balance of power. The author begins by conceptualizing security community expansion and then considers the ENP through this perspective, before moving on to individual case studies on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The book will appeal to both scholars and practitioners interested in European security, the European Union external action, and the post-Soviet space. Foreword 7 Preface 10 Contents 15 List of Abbreviations 16 List of Tables 18 Chapter 1: Introduction 19 The European Security Community 23 The Post-Soviet South Caucasus and European Security 26 Book Outline 33 References 35 Chapter 2: European Security Community Expansion 39 Conceptualising Security Communities 41 Security Community Formation 45 Identity, Power and Security 48 Security Community Expansion 51 The European Security Community 54 Security Communities Meet Balance of Power 60 References 64 Chapter 3: The European Neighbourhood Policy and the Expansion of the European Security Community 68 The EU as a Security Provider in the Neighbourhood 69 Designing a New Regional Security Order Beyond Enlargement 71 The European Neighbourhood Policy 76 The Norms and Practices of Security Community Expansion Through the ENP 81 The European Neighbours: Identity and Security in the Eastern Partnership 88 Challenges to the Expansion of the European Security Community Through the ENP 93 References 102 Chapter 4: Regional and Global Neighbours of the South Caucasus 111 The Euro-Atlantic Structures 114 The EU: Imagining a Region 114 The United States: The Global Neighbour 122 Pan-European Institutions: The Council of Europe, NATO and the OSCE 126 OSCE 127 Council of Europe 129 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 131 Challengers of the European Security Community 133 Russia: From the End of the ‘Post-Soviet Space’ to the Emergence of a ‘Greater Russia’14 133 Turkey: Carving a Role for Itself in Eurasia 138 Iran: The Pragmatic Neighbour 143 Conclusions 147 References 151 Chapter 5: Armenia: Breaking Isolation to Reach Europe 162 Background 162 Historical Memory: A Stateless Nation and the Genocide Issue 163 State Building 166 The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict 168 Diaspora 170 New Trends After 1999 172 The Domestic Level 172 The External Dimension 175 EU–Armenia Relations in the Framework of the ENP 178 Transforming Institutional Cooperation into an European Values-System 181 Socialising Processes, Obstacles and Opportunities 184 Armenia and the EU’s Security Community 187 References 192 Chapter 6: Azerbaijan: Strategic Partnership Instead of Europeanisation 200 Background 200 Factors Shaping Azerbaijan’s Foreign Policy in the Post-Soviet Period 205 Identity and the Process of Nation Building 205 The Role of Leadership from Elçibey to the Aliyevs’ Regime 211 The European Union as an Emergent Player in Azerbaijan 215 Europeanisation Revised 215 The Neighbourhood Policy Between Strategic Interests and Norm-­Based Identity 218 Azerbaijan and the EU’s Security Community 221 References 225 Chapter 7: Georgia: Building a European State 229 Background 229 Challenges After Independence 230 Foreign Policy 230 Domestic and Regional Constraints 235 Euro-Atlantic Integration Leading the Change 239 Adjusting Priorities and Speed: The Negotiations of the ENP Action Plan in Perspective 242 Meeting Great Expectations: The Road to the Association Agreement 245 Georgia and the EU’s Security Community 249 References 253 Chapter 8: Re-Imagining the European Security Community 259 References 263 Index 265 Front Matter ....Pages i-xxi Introduction (Licínia Simão)....Pages 1-20 European Security Community Expansion (Licínia Simão)....Pages 21-49 The European Neighbourhood Policy and the Expansion of the European Security Community (Licínia Simão)....Pages 51-93 Regional and Global Neighbours of the South Caucasus (Licínia Simão)....Pages 95-145 Armenia: Breaking Isolation to Reach Europe (Licínia Simão)....Pages 147-184 Azerbaijan: Strategic Partnership Instead of Europeanisation (Licínia Simão)....Pages 185-213 Georgia: Building a European State (Licínia Simão)....Pages 215-244 Re-Imagining the European Security Community (Licínia Simão)....Pages 245-250 Back Matter ....Pages 251-256 This text addresses the potential and limitations of the European Union Neighbourhood Policy in sustaining the expansion of the European security community towards the South Caucasus. The Caucasus' complex regional security dynamics are a hard test for regional security community building and showcase both the challenges of security provision through liberal reforms and integration and of the interaction between security communities and balance of power. The author begins by conceptualizing security community expansion and then considers the ENP through this perspective, before moving on to individual case studies on Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia