Ioana Ban

Black Sea Region: a Nascent Security Community?: a Dive in the Security Communities Theory As Well As Existing Case Studies to Uncover Solutions for a Rich and Rather Unstable Region Ioana Ban

States can build peaceful regional communities as long as they are willing to overcome their basic fear of security and exit the vicious circle of mistrust. Since writing this, there was one more war in Georgia and one violent uprising in Moldova as this region has yet to find a reliable and benevolent sponsor among its member states. More hope comes from the theory on security communities and how they are born which, behind a checklist for identifying such a community offer also some recipes. Fruitful tools emerge also from case studies of other famous security communities around the world, among which the most relevant and inspiring is the Northern European one. The paper undertakes a realistic analysis of a potential scenario for the Black Sea Region, a politically troublesome but economically exciting area for the West and not only...