Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The Black Sea littoral states are those which have a coast line on the sea itself Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine. The European Unions (EU) Black Sea Synergy attempts to involve Turkey and Russia in addition. Turkey is one of the major differences between the European memberships of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU External Action Service (EEAS) with Turkey being the most prominent member of NATO in the Black Sea region. The European Union is a good example of an existing security community whilst it is clear that, due to its current conflicts, the Black Sea is not. Nevertheless, throughout this book the idea of the Black Sea region as a possible future security community based on balanced multipolarity is explored.