The European Union in the Eurasian Space (PDF)

Essay from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,5 Germany, 4 Finland, University of Tampere, language: English, abstract: The Asian continent becomes more and more important in world politics. In Asia the future markets are located; the labour force is compared to western economies cheap but in the same way well educated and qualified. But probably one of the most important aspects are resources. The energy resources of the future are located on the Eurasian Continent, especially in Central Asia, North Russia and Arab countries. Asian states, in particular China and India will be under the most important global players. Their rapidly economic growth which leads probably in the same way to an increasing military power, makes them rather important which is underlined by India's claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. The Eurasian continent is full of challenges. First; Asian states are competitors on the world markets, but in the same way necessary exporting and investment partners for the west. Second; the Asian continent is a flash point of present and future conflicts which is caused by a huge lack of water resources, an extended diversity of ethnic groups and the competition of power and control over oil, gas and water resources and therefore the control over regions or countries in which the resources are located. Moreover several Asian states as India or Iran have nuclear capability which causes concerns and conflicts as the contemporary debates about Iran show. The following paper analyzes the document "Europe and Asia: A strategic Framework for Enhanced Partnerships" of the Commission of the European Communities in 2001. This document is a strategy paper which gives an overview how the European Union wants to improve and strengthen its presence in different regions of Asia. First I will give a short overview about the document, its strategies and the problems in the realization of strategies. Further the essay contains an analyze about geopolitics. At last I will compare the EU and USA, relating to their politics in Asia.