Commentary: A General Assessment of the Developments in the Black Sea Region since 1990

The Black Sea region is increasingly becoming a priority on the international agenda since the collapse of Soviet Union. Almost twenty years ago, it did not even appeared on many political maps. It was considered a borderline between NATO and its member in the region Turkey and the Warsaw Pact. However, in the contemporary international politics, Black Sea is one of the most salient regions where balance of power has changed and new geopolitical discourses emerged. Many important factors contributed to this development. First of all, especially in the last ten years, the Black Sea as a regional project represents new security and cooperation patterns in the new international system. New security patterns, such as energy and environment, are now in the gaining more importance. Beside these systemic transformations, political conditions in the Black Sea region have also changed. While there were only two players in the region before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Today, there are five littoral states.