Russia and Turkey: Rethinking Europe to Contest Outsider Status

Summary:

International relations in Europe are now entering a period of flux as the legacy of the cold war wanes and the "outsider" countries, notably Russia and Turkey, are rethinking their mutual relations as well as their place in the world. The current stalemate in Russia's relations with the European Union is accompanied by a broader impasse in the global role and status of both Russia and the EU. Turkey's aspirations to enter the EU remain contested both at home and abroad. In this context new ideas are emerging that offer a way out of the current stagnation. Notable among them are neo-revisionist Russian ideas about a "Greater Europe," shared in part by Turkish thinkers, suggesting a new vision of continent-wide European unity that transcends traditional interpretations of the insider/outsider dialectic. At the institutional level this is accompanied by a revival of "pan-European" ideas for integration, including a restructuring of European security and the creation of a "union of Europe" encompassing the EU, Russia, Turkey and others as equal members of a new political community.

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