Tsantoulis, I; (2016) Towards a genealogy of regions in International Relations: an autopsy of the Black Sea (region). Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis aims to contribute to the development of the Region Building Approach (RBA) that has highlighted the discursively constructed nature of regions. More precisely, it critically examines the attempt to formulate a political and institutional vision for the Black Sea region in the post-9/11 era and in the context of the enlargements of the EU and NATO. This attempt, perceived as a failure by its key actors, provides an opportunity to investigate in detail how regions are “talked and written into existence”. To this end, the thesis examines i) the region builders involved and the context of their actions; ii) the practices of region building that both enabled and constrained the discursive construction of the Black Sea region; and iii) the spatial representations and security discourses that were integral to the region building process. Through a genealogical reading, the thesis identifies the elements that distinguish the Black Sea from other successful cases of region building, most notably the Baltic Sea region. This autopsy of failed region-building adds to the conceptual toolbox of RBA; a theoretical perspective with continued relevance in the contemporary European and global context.

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