The new Near East

A decade after the demise of communism, scholars, policy-makers and journal ists still apply to Europe the same geographical descriptors that were born of the Cold War. Europe is usually sectioned into an integrating west, a r eforming centre, and a struggling east. But along the eastern periphery of the continent, the most striking division is increasingly one between a sta ble and cooperative north-east and a fractious and troubled south-east - a south-east that extends further south and east than just the former Yugosla via. There has been no shortage of external involvement in this region. The Aegean and Black seas are an alphabet soup of American and European projec ts, programmes, processes and partnerships, all designed to encourage good neighbourly relations and prepare the way for entry into Euro-Atlantic inst itutions. Yet rarely has there been serious consideration of how these init iatives should fit together, or what the realistic strategic goals of regio nal cooperation should be. Understanding some of the common difficulties fa ced by the Balkans, Turkey, Ukraine and the Caucasus and identifying both t he promise of and barriers to regional cooperation are crucial to dealing w ith a zone that is quickly becoming Europe's own 'near abroad'.