ABSTRACT
In the theoretical interpretation of the Wider Black Sea Region (WBSR) the author identifies the Black Sea region in its wider delineation, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The geopolitical and normative regime of the Black Sea has remained the most important, knotty, and acute issues of Russia's foreign policy for more than three centuries. The WBSR is home to the so-called Russia's "problems of the South". The term "problems of the south" refers to the security problematique pertaining to the southern border area of the Russian Federation and its neighbors. The present Black Sea regional order points towards a structural and strategic uncertainty. An inconclusive status quo says less about strategy, but a lot about tactics and Russia's pragmatic, gradualist, and bilateral approach in tackling the region's security. Finally, Russia is the WBSR's main protagonist in one of the most securitized "great games" for energy transportation on the Eurasian continent.
