Regionalisation and Deregionalisation in the Baltic and the Black Sea Subregions: Towards A United Security Region?
https://doi.org/10.46272/IT.2025.23.1.80.6
Abstract
The article dwells on the transformation of the Baltic and Black Sea security regions. It looks at these processes through the prism of the Regional security complex theory (RSCT) and Russian regional security studies of (Tatiana V. Yuryeva) and puts the issue in the context of the deteriorating relations between Russia and the West after 2014. The transformation of the two security regions is considered as a combination of two opposing trends: regionalization and deregionalization. The theoretical novelty of the study lies in the fact that the findings of the Copenhagen School of IR theory and RSC theory are refined taking into account the changes that occurred after the publication of Buzan and Weaver's Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security (2003). As a result, the positions of the Baltic states and Turkey are critically revised, and attention is drawn to the formation of new institutionalized ties between the Baltic and Black Sea states in the field of security. The article examines trends that contribute to the formation of a unified Baltic–Black Sea security region, as well as factors that hinder this process. In this regard, the approaches of key players to region-building in the Baltic and Black Sea areas are analyzed, as the transformation of regional institutions is seen as the main indicator of regionalization and deregionalization. The study also uses the periodization method and comparative approach and critically analyses doctrinal sources.
Keywords
Copenhagen school,
security,
Ukrainian crisis,
regional security complex,
security region,
Baltic region,
Black Sea region
Supporting agencies: The research was financed by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-48-10015, https://rscf.ru/project/24-48-10015/
About the Authors
Vladislav Vorotnikov
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dr Vladislav Vorotnikov – Acting Chair, Department of History and Politics of European and American Countries
Moscow, 119454
Evgeny Pankov
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Mr Evgeny Pankov – Junior Research Fellow, Institute for International Studies
Moscow, 119454
Denis Nesterov
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Mr Denis Nesterov – PhD Candidate, Department of History and Politics of European and American Countries
Moscow, 119454
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Review
For citations:
Vorotnikov V., Pankov E., Nesterov D. Regionalisation and Deregionalisation in the Baltic and the Black Sea Subregions: Towards A United Security Region? International Trends / Mezhdunarodnye protsessy. 2025;23(1):86-101. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46272/IT.2025.23.1.80.6
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