“Fear or Love Thy Neighbour”? The EU Framework for Promoting Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus

Abstract:
Building on the model of the enlargement policy, the European Union (EU) designed the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership to further promote its norms and principles. One of the goals of its new policies has been to foster regional cooperation among partner countries and their neighbours.

This article specifies the EU’s framework for promoting regional cooperation through the aforementioned policies and discusses its potential impact on the example of the South Caucasus republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The South Caucasus has not only been an arena of intraregional conflicts, but has also often been troubled by disputes between its neighbours. This article argues that, due to a lack of proactive and consistent engagement, the EU’s framework risks leaving regional conflicts in the current state of stagnation and without advancement in regional cooperation.