ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores the three themes listed above: the Black Sea region as an EU neighbourhood, as a conflict zone, and as a possible future security community. It considers the term neighbourhood in terms of geographic proximity then the Black Sea region is not only the neighbourhood of the European Union but the EU constitutes a part of its own neighbourhood in the Black Sea region. The book examines the tensions, rivalries and conflicts of the Black Sea region including those over energy and pipelines. It outlines the detail what is required for the Black Sea region to become a pluralistic security community which is more than an organisation such as NATO, the OSCE or the CSTO. The wider Black Sea region needs to move on from the post-Soviet era to become a part of the twenty-first century world.
