ABSTRACT
As an introduction to the politics of the countries of the wider Black Sea region, this chapter will discuss the political systems and foreign policies of the individual states one by one, especially with regard to their relations with the EU and other Black Sea actors. The Black Sea littoral countries of Russia, Ukraine and Georgia as well as the disputed land of Abkhazia were all part of the former Soviet Union, as were the other wider Black Sea countries of Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenia and the disputed territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria and South Ossetia. Many of the neighbours are involved in ongoing frozen or smouldering conflicts one way or another. The conflicts often involve disputes between Black Sea states such as Georgia and Russia or Azerbaijan and Armenia but can also affect the whole of Europe and other actors in the region such as the US, Iran or Kazakhstan.
