The new imperialism in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

This study examines the Eastern enlargement of the European Union within the frame of imperialism. The existing literature on the Eastern enlargement has typically framed the transition of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) as “return to Europe” meaning their return to democracy, civil society and market economy. This perspective emphasizes that the enlargement has provided an integration of western and eastern parts of Europe. However, this study argues the Eastern enlargement has crystallized uneven development tendencies in EU rather than the integration. The European project expanded to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after the collapse of the Soviet bloc to restructure the region in line with the requirements of global capitalism. Thus, the new imperialism in Central and Eastern Europe has a unique characteristic by inclusion of these countries into the EU block. The result for these countries has been dependency on the regional market namely the European Single Market. The study mainly focuses on the analysis of this unique characteristic of the new imperialism in the CEE through an empirical analysis on the transformation of the CEECs’ economies during the integration process. It also provides a theoretical framework for the concepts of imperialism and new imperialism.