Writing “Eastness”: Romania and the Conundrum of Regionness in the Black Sea Area

Lucian Dumitrescu

doi:10.1177/2158244021998345

Abstract

The article sets out to explore how Romanian authorities have struggled to get rid of the border country syndrome through subregional initiatives in the Black Sea area once Romania joined the Euro-Atlantic community. The article examines how such subregional policies have performatively constituted Romania’s strategic identity in the area. Formally, all the subregional initiatives that the article addresses have drawn on an institutional logic of security. Informally, though, they promoted a geopolitical vision of security. Such a logic has sharply conflicted with the underlying security philosophy of both the European Union and other successful subregional initiatives in the area. Thus, instead of improving Romania’s level of regionness, these subregional policies have ended up creating more dividing lines in an already strained security environment. The article draws on David Campbell’s political criticism and shows how Romania’s security practices in the Black Sea area, instead of instilling Europeanness into the country’s strategic identity, have ended up reinforcing its “Eastness.”

Highlights

Once Romania joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 2004, a major turn occurred in its security policies in the Black Sea area—from a closed-sea perspective, which is rather an “Eastern security perspective” (Malița & Dungaciu, 2014, p. 336), to an open-sea view
A signatory of the 1936 Montreux Convention, Romania promoted a closed-sea view for almost a century in the Black Sea area
As a NATO member and, later on, as a member state of the European Union (EU), Romania has attempted to alter the 1936 Montreux Convention through different subregional policies that aimed at the internationalization of the Black Sea area

Summary

Introduction

Once Romania joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 2004, a major turn occurred in its security policies in the Black Sea area—from a closed-sea perspective, which is rather an “Eastern security perspective” (Malița & Dungaciu, 2014, p. 336), to an open-sea view. Romania’s subregional initiatives in the Black Sea area have revealed a security discourse completely anchored in a geopolitical logic.

Results

Conclusion