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This book presents a new approach to studying the European Union's regional and global relevance. It recasts into a dynamic perspective the three most significant systemic processes that define the EU as a regionalist project: its enlargement, neighborhood, and mega-regional policies. The book argues that these processes collectively demonstrate a dynamic shift of the core tenets of European regionalism from an inward-looking process of region building to an open, selective system of global interactions. Boyka M. Stefanova is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Geography at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA

This book presents a new approach to studying the European Union's regional and global relevance. It recasts into a dynamic perspective the three most significant systemic processes that define the EU as a regionalist project: its enlargement, neighborhood, and mega-regional policies. The book argues that these processes collectively demonstrate a dynamic shift of the core tenets of European regionalism from an inward-looking process of region building to an open, selective system of global interactions.

"Preface" -- "Contents" -- "Abbreviations" -- "List of Figures" -- "List of Tables" -- "Chapter 1: Introduction" -- "Setting the Stage: The Puzzling Evolution of the European Union Since the Eastward Enlargement" -- "Revisiting European Regionalism" -- "Rationale for the Project" -- "Research Questions and Strategy: Beyond Comparative Regionalism" -- "Structure of the Book" -- "Bibliography" -- "Chapter 2: Europe´s Conceptualization as a Region: Post-Cold War Dynamics" -- "Introduction" -- "Of Regions and Regionalism" -- "Defining a Region" -- "Regionalism" -- "Regionalism in an Evolutionary Perspective" -- "New Regionalism" -- "Regionalism and Globalization: Open Regionalism" -- "Theorizing Regionalism: International Relations, Institutionalist, and Governance Approaches" -- "Neorealism" -- "Liberal Theories" -- "Social Constructivism" -- "Institutionalism as a Theory of Regionalism" -- "International Political Economy" -- "The Governance Approach to Regionalism" -- "Comparative Regionalism" -- "The Eclectic Perspective" -- "Dynamic Regionalism" -- "``All of the Above´´: The European Union as a Project of Regionalism" -- "The Security Foundations of European Regionalism" -- "The EU´s Evolution as a System of Regionalism" -- "Stage One: Implementation and Internal Consolidation (1950-1969)" -- "Stage Two: Continuation and Enlargement (1970-1992)" -- "Stage Three: Europeanization Through Externalization (1992-Present)" -- "The Unanswered Questions of Regionalism: Neomercantilism, Protectionism, Convergence" -- "State Capitalism" -- "Regionalism and Protectionism" -- "Regionalism and Global Convergence?" -- "Conclusion" -- "Bibliography" -- "Chapter 3: The Political Sustainability of the Progressive Enlargement Model of European Regionalism: The EU´s Eastern Enlarge..." -- "Introduction".

This book is about the EU's role in conflict resolution and reconciliation in Europe. Ever since it was implemented as a political project of the post-World War II reality in Western Europe, European integration has been credited with performing conflict resolution functions. It allegedly transformed the long-standing adversarial relationship between France and Germany into a strategic partnership. Conflict in Western Europe became obsolete. The end of the Cold War further reinforced its role as a regional peace project.While these evolutionary dynamics are uncontested, the deeper meaning of the process, its transformative power, is still to be elucidated. How does European integration restore peace when its equilibrium is broken and conflict or the legacies of enmity persist? This book sets out to do exactly that. It explores the peace and conflict-resolution role of European integration by testing its somewhat vague, albeit well-established, macro-political rationale of a peace project in the practical settings of conflicts. The analytical lens of that of Europeanization. The central argument of the book is that the evolution of the policy mix, resources, framing influences and political opportunities through which European integration affects conflicts and processes of conflict resolution demonstrates a historical trend through which the EU has become an indispensable factor of conflict resolution . It begins with the pooling together of policy-making at the European level for the management of particular sectors (early integration in the European Coal and Steel Community) through the functioning of core EU policies (Northern Ireland) to the challenges of enlargement (Cyprus) and the European perspective for the Western Balkans (Kosovo). The book will be of value to academics and non-expert observers alike with an interest in European integration and peace studies

This paper examines a less researched aspect of East European party politics: change within ethnic parties, which are conventionally regarded as stable or intransigent political actors. The main argument of the paper is that the decreasing relevance of a bipolar model of political competition has affected the relative positioning of ethnic parties. Their programmatic outlook, role in the party system, and mobilization strategies are being mainstreamed. Ethnic parties are no longer regarded as inevitable participants in power sharing and informal elite accommodation. They are increasingly treated by voters and the party system alike as national-level parties and national-level competitors. The paper applies the concept of mainstreaming to explain the long-term evolution of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms in Bulgarian party politics as a critical case study of ethnic party repositioning from proximity to government to parliamentary opposition. It builds an argument about the MRF's continued relevance to the party system, ensuring minority representation beyond ethnicity, as a liberal-centrist party representing distinct economic interests and political orientations within the Bulgarian electorate.