Mădălina Virginia ANTONESCU

This article is proposing to explore briefly the dichotomist, even paradoxical condition of EU, an original entity which can be regarded at the same time, as a postmodern form of empire, with two strategic directions of expansion (towards Balkans and towards Central Asia as classical heartland, strategically important for EU due to the energetic center of states once forming the USSR area of control) and also, EU can be regarded as a periphery of Russia. This certainly is a very odd condition for EU, as political center of power but having several key-vulnerabilities (energetic dependency on Russia and Central Asia states as area traditionally placed under the Russian influence; lack of European army, as the states have; immaturity of CFSP pillar; lack of a genuine and centralized CSDP dimension – here, the intergovernmental nature of these pillars, under Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice treaties and also, under the Lisbon reform treaty can be considered as a risk factor of fragmentation and blockage for the construction of a strong European military and security pillar-). From this perspective (hard-power), EU can be seen as a double periphery: as periphery of Russia (through energetic weapon; incapacity for EU to gain access to Central Asia and to build here a sphere of influence) and also, as a periphery of US (lack of a military personal arm and of a strong CFSP pillar). EU is a vulnerable part of the Transatlantic Empire (seen as twofold imperial structure, in our opinion, covering US and EU) in comparison with Russia, as a federal state, strongly anchored in its traditional military dimension (Russia, as hard-type of imperial structure, rather than being a postmodern one ). We use the geopolitical term “empire” and all other key-terms in this article, not in a subjective, emotional meaning but as a scientific category of analyze, that must be more explored and treated in an objective way by present schools of geopolitical thought.