Professors Simon SCHUNZ, Sieglinde GSTOHL and Luk VAN LANGENHOVE have edited a special issue of the journal Contemporary Politics (vol. 24, no. 1, 2018) dedicated to the interaction of major powers in shared neighbourhoods. Contemporary global politics is characterised by multipolarity, with several ‘major powers’ interacting in ways that oscillate between competition (and sometimes conflict) and cooperation. Understanding and explaining the nature of the interactions between these powers has become an important subject for analysts and policy-makers alike, especially in regional contexts, that is, when they share a neighbourhood.
This special issue of Contemporary Politics addresses such major powers’ interactions in shared neighbourhoods by comparing four cases: European Union-Russia interactions in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus; European Union interactions with the Middle Eastern powers in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean; China-India relations in South Asia; and Brazil-US relations in Latin America. The comparison shows that these dyads represent highly dynamic relationships taking very different forms, including coopetition, a hybrid between cooperation and competition. They develop in function of several conditions related to the power (a)symmetry between the two powers, their concrete neighbourhood strategies and their perceptions of the relative importance of the shared neighbourhood. The cases also lead to the insight that major powers desiring peaceful interaction are well-advised to engage in institutionalised tripartite concertations involving their ‘shared neighbours’.
The special issue is the outcome of a conference organised by the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies in cooperation with the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) in Bruges.