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Abstract:
It is generally accepted that a political entity that has reached a certain level of maturity evolves from the ‘frontier era’, characterized by an absence of regulation and a kind of anarchy, to the ‘boundary era’, characterized by order and stability. However, my article shows that the European Union (EU) has initiated a certain return to the ‘frontier era’ in its security relation to the external world. First, at the internal level, the borders between Member States are hardly more than administrative divisions, whose interest in terms of security tends to fade. Second, the external outline of the EU is a legal and political boundary, that is the external limit of the sum of the Member States. Its defence is currently guaranteed, and its value in the framework of the new security policies is limited by the fact that security should now be searched upstream, outside this boundary. Third, there exists a very frontier between the EU and the outer world, a wide space (mainly maritime) separating the EU from the rest of the world. Its strategic depth should contribute to the security of the Union (projection), but as the fi rst frontline, this marginal zone should also be secured itself against incoming transnational threats. The aim of the article was to discuss the way the EU exercises its power beyond its external boundary, as well as to consider the evolving EU’s geopolitical vision. Thus, my research leads to a refl ection on the geopolitical implications of a broadened security agenda for the EU.
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