The European Union and Central Asia

In June 2007, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted The EU in Central Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership, highlighting the growing importance of Central Asia to the EU. This book examines the EU's policy towards the five Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in light of this Strategy. The analysis focuses on the EU's Central Asia Strategy and provides an evaluation of the EU's performance in meeting its policy goals in the region. It starts by looking at the EU as an actor, and discusses the general framework of EU-Central Asia cooperation. The book goes on to focus on the Strategy's general strategic directions and, in particular, its set of concrete policy commitments and questions whether these are adequately designed and implemented so they are able to contribute to regional security and stability. The book contributes to a better understanding for the pitfalls of overall stability in Central Asia, as well as studies on European Union and International relations.

Alexander Warkotsch is an Associate Researcher at Würzburg University, Germany. He was a DAAD research fellow at the University of Western Australia and a Lecturer in European Studies at King's College London, UK. He has published widely on European politics in Central Asia.

1. Introduction Alexander WarkotschPart 1: The Tool-Kit and Framework of EU-Central Asian Cooperation 2. The EU Central Asia Strategy: An Exercise in EU Foreign Policy Andrea Schmitz 3. The tool-kit of EU-Central Asian Cooperation Sigita Urdze 4. EU Member-States in Central Asia Jackie Gower 5. EU-Central Asian Bilateral Cooperation Nargis Kassenova 6. The EU and Central Asian Geopolitics Alexander Warkotsch Part 2: Fields of Cooperation 7. Security Assistance and Border Management Katarzyna Czerniecka and John Heathershaw 8. Human Rights, Democratization, and Good Governance Alexander Warkotsch 9.Youth and Education Martha C. Merrill and Askat Dukenbaev 10. Economic Development and Trade Richard Pomfret 11. Energy Cooperation: The Southern Gas Transport Corridor Roland Gotz 12. Water and Environmental Sustainability Lena Partzsch 13. The Dialogue of Civilizations, Inter-Cultural Dialogue or Engaging 'Islam' in Central Asia Tim Epkenhans