ABSTRACT
The concept of Neighbourhood as something geopolitical is part of the rethinking of the European Union's general societal impact within the setting of post-Cold War reconfigurations of interstate relations. In the joint consultation paper on the renewal of the European Neighbourhood policy (ENP), the EU's ambitious goals of regional cooperation through partnership signal sustained commitment to a new style of international relations. In the present geopolitical context, nationalism and nation-building in post-Soviet states are often viewed as antithetical to ideas of shared Europeanness. Shared Europeanness and European values have frequently been offered as an alternative to national identification and the strengthening of national political communities. In the specific case of Belarus, the concept of European values has in fact led to a general rejection of much of the ENP agenda; here, the political regime insists on stability and economic development rather than convergence to international norms as societal priorities.
