Research Articles
| Open Access |
https://doi.org/10.55640/ijssll-06-04-07
Revisiting The Eu as A Regional Actor: A Strategic Approach
Abstract
This paper examines the viability and effectiveness of the European Union’s approach in responding to the political, security, and governance challenges following the fall of the Berlin Wall. It examines the EU s four-pronged approach to assess EU engagement: (1) the EU’s strategy toward sub-regional frameworks, focusing on its efforts to promote stability, cooperation, and resilience in neighboring regions; (2) the EU’s crisis management concepts, evaluating mechanisms for rapid response, conflict prevention, and operational coordination; (3) the evolution of the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), analyzing how the EU’s security and defense instruments have developed to support both regional and strategic objectives; and (4) the EU enlargement strategy, considering its role in shaping political, economic, and normative alignment across prospective and neighboring member states. By integrating these dimensions, such as it was conceived from the outset by the EU Commission, the paper highlights both strengths and limitations in the EU’s post-Cold War engagement, emphasizing the interplay between strategic policy design, operational capacity, and normative influence.
Keywords
Regional Cooperation, Europe’s Competing Core Areas, EEAS and Subregionals, EEEAS, Subregional Cooperation, CFSP, Governance
References
1. Acharya, A. (2007). The emerging regional architecture of world politics. World Politics, 59(4), 629–652.
2. Acharya, A. (2014). Constructing a security community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the problem of regional order (3rd ed.). Routledge.
3. Adler-Nissen, R. (2014). Opting out of the European Union: Diplomacy, sovereignty and European integration. Cambridge University Press.
4. Alcaro, R., & Bargués Pedreny, P. (2025). Conflict management and the future of EU foreign and security policy: Relational power Europe. Routledge
5. Barnett, M. N., & Finnemore, M. (2004). Rules for the world: International organizations in global politics. Cornell University Press.
6. Biscop, S. (2019). European strategy in the 21st century: New ambitions for EU security and defence. Routledge.
7. Blockmans, S., & Hillion, C. (2013). The European External Action Service: Legal and institutional perspectives. CEPS.
8. Boin, A., Ekengren, M., & Rhinard, M. (2013). The European Union as crisis manager: Patterns and prospects. Cambridge University Press.
9. Börzel, T. A., & Risse, T. (2016). Dysfunctional state institutions, trust, and governance in areas of limited statehood. Regulation & Governance, 10(2), 149–160.
10. Buzan, B. (1991). People, states and fear: An agenda for international security studies in the post–Cold War era (2nd ed.). Harvester Wheatsheaf.
11. Buzan, B., & Wæver, O. (2003). Regions and powers: The structure of international security. Cambridge University Press.
12. Consilium. (2000). Northern Dimension Action Plan 2000–2003: First coordinated cross-border outreach policy for northern Europe. Council of the European Union. https://www.consilium.europa.eu
13. Cottey, A. (Ed.). (1999). Subregional cooperation in the new Europe: Building security, prosperity and solidarity from the Barents to the Black Sea. Palgrave Macmillan.
14. Cottey, A. (2025). Security in 21st Century Europe (3rd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350342873
15. de Coning, C. (2023). Adaptive peacebuilding: Leveraging the context specific and participatory dimensions of self sustainable peace. In C. de Coning, R. Saraiva, & A. Muto (Eds.), Adaptive Peacebuilding: A new approach to sustaining peace in the 21st century (pp. 25–47). Palgrave Macmillan.
16. Edwards, Charlie & Seidenstein, Nate The Scale of Russian Sabotage Operations, IISS,2025, https://www.iiss.org/research-paper/2025/08/the-scale-of-russian--sabotage-operations--against-europes-critical--infrastructure/
17. Egeberg, M. (2003). European governance: Authority, democracy and legitimacy. European Political Science, 2(3), 60–75. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210024
18. Egeberg, M., & Trondal, J. (2015). Compound administration in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy, 22(2), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2014.955754
19. Egeberg, M., & Trondal, J. (2018). Researching European Union administration. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(6), 779–789. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2017.1421253
20. Emerson, M., Balfour, R., & Tocci, N. (2017). The EU’s neighbourhood policy and external governance: Theory and practice. Routledge.
21. European Commission. (2009). European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). COM(2009) 248 final. https://eur-lex.europa.eu
22. European Commission, DG REGIO. (2009). European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (COM(2009) 248 final).
23. European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation. (2022). Strategic crisis management in the EU: Improving crisis prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (Publication No. KI 07 22 602 EN)
24. European Parliament. (2025). European Parliament Arctic recommendation A10-0229/2025: Policy recommendations on EU diplomatic strategic engagement in the Arctic. European Parliament. https://www.europarl.europa.eu
25. European Union. (2007). Black Sea Synergy: A flexible framework to enhance regional cooperation in the Black Sea (COM(2007) 160). EUR-Lex. https://eur-lex.europa.eu
26. European Union External Action / Enlargement & Eastern Neighbourhood. (2025, May 28). EU strategic approach to the Black Sea: Joint communication linking security, connectivity, and preparedness. European External Action Service. https://www.eeas.europa.eu
27. Fawn, R. (2009). Regions and their study: Wherefrom, what for and whereto. Review of International Studies, 35(S1), 5–34.
28. Freedman, L. (2013). Strategy: A history. Oxford University Press.
29. Galantino, M. G., & Freire, M. R. (Eds.). (2015). Managing crises, making peace: Towards a strategic EU vision for security and defense. Palgrave Macmillan.
30. Gänzle, S., & Kern, K. (Eds.). (2016). A “macro-regional” Europe in the making: Theoretical approaches and empirical evidence. Palgrave Macmillan.
31. Gross, E., & Juncos, A. (Eds.). (2011). EU conflict prevention and crisis management: Roles, institutions, and policies. Routledge.
32. Hettne, B. (1999). Globalization and the new regionalism: The second great transformation? Macmillan.
33. Héritier, A. (1996). The accommodation of diversity in European policy-making and administration. Journal of European Public Policy, 3(2), 149–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501769680000041
34. Hix, S. (2005). The political system of the European Union (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
35. Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2001). Multi-level governance and European integration. Rowman & Littlefield.
36. Ilcus, Christian Strengthening the EU Enlargement Strategy - Albania and Serbia in the Western Balkans: Divergent Paths, Shared Challenges in EU Integration, 2025, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5879402
37. Jones, Seth Russia’s Shadow War against the West, 2025, https://www.csis.org/analysis/russias-shadow-war-against-west
38. INOGATE Programme. (1996–2016). Energy and transport cooperation between the EU and Black & Caspian Sea states. European Commission. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INOGATE
39. Kavalski, E. (2010). The emerging EU–China security complex. Manchester University Press.
40. Keating, M. (1998). The new regionalism in Western Europe: Territorial restructuring and political change. Edward Elgar.
41. Katzenstein, P. J. (Ed.). (2005). A world of regions: Asia and Europe in the American imperium. Cornell University Press.
42. Koenig, N. (2016). EU security policy and crisis management: A quest for coherence. Routledge.
43. Lake, D. A., & Morgan, P. M. (Eds.). (1997). Regional orders: Building security in a new world. Penn State University Press.
44. Mansfield, E. D., & Milner, H. V. (1999). The new wave of regionalism. International Organization, 53(3), 589–627.
45. Marks, G., & Hooghe, L. (2004). Contrasting visions of multi-level governance. In I. Bache & M. Flinders (Eds.), Multi-level governance (pp. 15–30). Oxford University Press.
46. Mattli, W. (1999). The logic of regional integration: Europe and beyond. Cambridge University Press.
47. Paul ‘t Hart, P. (1993). Public policy and administrative networks: A compound view. In J. Pierre (Ed.), Bureaucracy and democracy (pp. 73–91). Sage.
48. Riddervold, Marianne et.al. (Ed.). (2021). The Palgrave handbook of EU crises. Palgrave Macmillan.
49. Scharpf, F. W. (1997). Games real actors play: Actor-centered institutionalism in policy research. Westview Press.
50. Schimmelfennig, F., Leuffen, D., & Rittberger, B. (2015). The European Union as a system of differentiated integration: Governance, politics, and compliance. Palgrave Macmillan.
51. Strachan, H. (2013). The direction of war: Contemporary strategy in historical perspective. Cambridge University Press.
52. Tallberg, J. (2002). Delegation to supranational institutions: Why, how, and with what consequences? West European Politics, 25(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/713601584
53. Tocci, N. (2017). Framing the EU global strategy: A stronger Europe in a fragile world. Palgrave Macmillan.
54. Trondal, J. (2002). The dynamics of administrative compound structures: The European Union as a multi-level polity. European Journal of Political Research, 41(1), 105–124. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00041
55. Van Thiel, S. (2001). Managing networks in public administration. Sage.
56. Vanhoonacker, S., Hocking, B., & Spence, D. (Eds.). (2015). Diplomacy in the European Union: Integrated, institutional, and compound. Routledge.
57. Whitman, R. G., & Wolff, S. (Eds.). (2012). The European Union as a global conflict manager. Routledge.
58. Wivel, A. (2005). The security challenge of small EU member states. Journal of Common Market Studies, 43(2), 393–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-9886.2005.00561.x
Internet Sources
https://www.bsec-organization.org/
Article Statistics
Downloads
Copyright License
Copyright (c) 2026 Christian ILCUS (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0).
Authors retain full copyright of their work.
Content is freely accessible and can be shared or reused with proper attribution.
This ensures open access and promotes global dissemination of knowledge.