The Black Sea Security Dimension and Contemporary Military Threats

Abstract

The paper „The Security Dimension of the Black Sea Basin and Modern Military Threats” discusses the military, military-political and economic interests of regional and non-regional actors, which have a significant impact on the security environment and stability of the Black Sea Basin countries. The region in question, due to its geographical location, provides opportunities for the implementation of large-scale economic projects, as well as the projection of forces in various directions, creating additional challenges in the context of possible negative impacts on the above-mentioned domains.
The topic clearly outlines all the needs that should contribute to peaceful coexistence of the countries of the region and implement a full range of security measures to ensure the maintenance of this status quo. Attention is focused on the turbulent situation in the region (the Russia-Ukraine war, the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, conflicts in the Middle East), which is gaining critical importance for the West in terms of the rearrangement of the "middle corridor" of stable and reliable transport and communication lines from Central Asia to Europe, through the Caucasus region, in which Georgia plays an important role and performs the function of a conduit for energy resources and cargo. The paper also discusses the trends in strategic support and capacity growth as a result of the above-mentioned processes, both in terms of political, military, and economic-financial benefits, creating unprecedented security guarantees for specific states of the Black Sea Basin.
At the same time, the paper pays special attention to the interests of the United States and China in the Black Sea Basin, due to its geopolitical location of the region and its economic potential, as well as the associated risks that hinder the implementation of large-scale economic projects and ensure security from those actors (Russia, Iran) that are planned to bypass in the implementation of the future megaprojects. Significant attention is paid to the formation of an unstable environment in the states included in the communication chain by malicious actors, including the conduct of hybrid actions, sabotage acts and cyber attacks, as well as attempts or the acts of disruption of territorial integrity or partial or full occupation of the countries. Significant part of the present paper is devoted to the issues of ensuring the security of megaprojects to be implemented in the countries along the chain and the necessity for close cooperation between partner countries interested in the implementation of these megaprojects.
This will significantly increase the coordinated activities of the interested parties, forces and means involved in the security sector, for the implementation of prophylactic/preventive measures. The research question of this paper is the following: what impact do asymmetric military challenges have on regional security processes, taking the Black Sea region as an example? The theoretical framework will be selected from the theories of „regional security” and „securitization”. Key terms: security, Black Sea basin, threats, stability, strategic, geopolitical, economic.