Pertti Joenniemi

• University of Eastern Finland

A central goalpost characterising the European Union has consisted of escaping Europe's notorious past, and this aspiration has then also profoundly impacted the Union's approach to the construction of political space. Sovereignty has for the EU subsequently been off limits. However, the more recent claim of the Union having succeeded in reaching i...

The contribution sets out to probe changes in the essence of the European Union through the lens of neighborhood. It rests on the claim that the advent of the concept of ‘neighbor’ in the context of the Union's new policy of neighborhood (ENP) testifies to an altered EU‐identity. It argues that approaching the concept as foundational rather than se...

In the build up to the 2004 enlargement of the European Union (EU) debates about the nature and extent of (EU) Europe became widespread. Questions as to whether the 2004 enlargement would be the last major expansion of the EU were hotly debated, and the different candidate countries made great efforts to ensure they did not miss the departing boat...

It was argued in Chapter 1 that a political entity—Europe or any other—possesses a certain geometry deploying its components in a certain “space.” Hence, the relations of margins and centers can be used to understand the natures, roles, and mutual impacts of both Europe and its margins. The different political orders’ distinct geometries bear witne...

As stated in Noel Parker’s introductory chapter, a position in the margins is not limited to states. Other subject positions, such as social groups, geographic zones, and various non-state actors can also be covered by the term. Since marginality is not an objectively definable category, it may therefore also be extended to cover relations between...

Recent talk about Europe's diminishing importance to America's policymaking is here regarded as unfounded. Europe remains an indispensable signifier tightly embedded in the soul of the US as well as that of Russia. With identity being a relational process and profoundly social in character, both America and Russia employ Europe as the main mirror i...

What sets the agenda around the Baltic Rim and what are its consequences in terms of political space? Various views have been figured in this debate, ranging from a “clash of civilizations” to predictions that the Baltic area will form one of the “hottest” growth regions in Europe. A variety of new spatial constructions have emerged and numerous re...

The Barents Euro‐Arctic Region (BEAR) represents an endeavor to radically alter the frame of interpretation applied in northernmost Europe. While the images employed during the Cold War years were statist and security oriented, depending on clear‐cut divisions, the new ones refer to local needs, connectedness, and civilian interaction. The effort h...

Radical changes in the international arena in recent years have shattered many of the time-worn accounts of political order on the European continent. As the axis along which international politics evolves continues to shift, not only are states and international institutions being re-ordered into a new hierarchy of power, authority and influence b...

Nuclear weapons have in the past been presented as rational and legitimate. They have been seen as functional in preserving the world familiar and recognizable by keeping an ever-looming anarchy and erosion of social order at bay. However, in current discourse nuclear weapons are no longer viewed as producers of security but rather as monsters gene...