Lexington Books
Pages: 270
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-4985-4223-4 • Hardback • March 2018 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
978-1-4985-4224-1 • eBook • March 2018 • $122.50 • (£95.00)
Olga Alinda Spaiser is associate scholar in the Center for European Studies at Sciences Po and project manager for the Directorate‑General for Crisis Prevention, Stabilisation and Post‑Conflict Reconstruction in the German Federal Foreign Office.
Part I: The European Union as a Global Actor: Conceptual Framework
Chapter 1: Analyzing the EU as a Foreign Actor: The Three Levels of EU's Influence
Part II: The European Union in Central Asia
Chapter 2: The Context: Geostrategic Stakes in an Unstable Environment on European Doorsteps
Chapter 3: The Emergence of the EU's Policy toward Central Asia: The "Far Neighborhood" Approach
Chapter 4: Analyzing the EU’s Strategy for Central Asia: Discourse, Instruments, and Reception
Chapter 5: The Broader Geopolitical Context of EU Policy in Central Asia: Competition for Influence and Influence Parallelism
Part III: Case Studies: The EU as a “Consultant” in Central Asia's Security Sphere
Chapter 6: Border Insecurity in Central Asia and the EU's Response
Chapter 7: Governance Crises in Central Asia and the EU's Response
Chapter 8: Water Conflict in Central Asia and the EU's Response
Olga Alinda Spaiser has provided a valuable addition to the scarce academic literature on EU–Central Asia relations. The European Union's Influence in Central Asia offers a rich overview of Central Asia as a ‘Far Neighbourhood’ of Europe where relations were intensified since 2007 via an EU strategy for the region. Spaiser critically assesses the European Union as a normative actor and realistically analyzes Europe’s interests in a region where Brussels is a ‘second-tier’ actor after Beijing and Moscow, but is valued as a partner by Central Asian regimes. This study is an important read for scholars and policymakers focusing on EU foreign and security policy, as well as Central Asia watchers.
— Jos Boonstra, Centre for European Security Studies
Composed of five independent countries that emerged as a new geopolitical space after the fall of the Soviet Union, Central Asia has been studied in its various transformations. In the sphere of international politics and geopolitics, this interest in Central Asia has often been limited to the strategies of main actors—Russia, China, and to a lesser extent, the United States. However, there is another actor that has been relatively active and influential in Central Asia, with a very specific approach that has been neglected in its contribution to the transformation of Central Asia—the European Union. Olga Alinda Spaiser’s book is a valuable contribution that fills the void. Thanks to this new and original study based on extensive fieldwork in Central Asia and Europe, we have an excellent analysis of the relations and interactions between the European Union and Central Asia and the region’s place in global politics.
— Bayram Balci, Sciences Po