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Critical, Bottom-up and Material Geopolitics of the European Union in the Black Sea

Project description

The Black Sea’s role in contemporary dynamics

The Russia-Ukraine War has heightened the geopolitical significance of the Black Sea, with military conflicts and environmental degradation afflicting its waters. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the EUSEAGE project aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the Black Sea’s role in contemporary geopolitics. It seeks to move beyond traditional military-strategic analysis by incorporating insights from local coastal communities and the materiality of the sea itself. Focusing on the EU’s geo-politicisation of its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) since 2014, the project investigates how the Black Sea shapes the EU’s geopolitical agenda and practice. By integrating various geographical scales and perspectives, EUSEAGE aims to shed light on the multifaceted dimensions of Black Sea geopolitics.

Objective

The Russia-Ukraine War has elevated the geopolitical significance of the Black Sea. The sea has become a site of military battles, blockaded trade routes, and environmental degradation. The entanglement of this body of water with many contentious developments underscores the need for a deeper and multifaceted understanding of its role in contemporary geopolitics. Yet, the military-strategic analysis, which dominates the academic scholarship on the Black Sea, ignores other important geopolitical dimensions, such as interests and knowledge of the local coastal communities and the materiality of the sea water in shaping geopolitical relations. The project, therefore, aims for a critical, bottom-up and material geopolitical reframing of the Black Sea in which the body of water and its coasts remain both a central object of analysis and a key site of study of geopolitics. Empirically, the research focuses on the Black Seas role in the European Unions (EU) geopoliticization of its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) since 2014. It investigates the Black Seas role in the European Unions geopolitical agenda and practice. Methodologically, the research brings different geographical scales and vantage points on the Black Sea geopolitics together, such as the EU institutions in Brussels, coastal communities on the Black Sea, and the sea itself, in order to capture various elements and phases of EUs practice of geopolitics from inception to implementation and finally, effect and impact.

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Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Net EU contribution
€ 191 760,00
Address
OUDE MARKT 13
3000 Leuven
Belgium
Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. Vlaams-Brabant Arr. Leuven
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data