THE CHALLENGES FOR THE ‘PAX EUROPAEA’ CONCEPT IN CONDITIONS OF SECURITY ESCALATION

Abstract

In delicate security conditions, the European continent is once again confronted with the possibility of greater war. The insecurity and sheer destruction in Ukraine inevitably contributed to fundamental changes in the geopolitical and geostrategic context that existed on the continent during a longer period of so-called relative peace and stability. Namely, the processes of integration and cooperation between the states in Europe, embodied in an international entity which by its nature is Sui Generis, naturally evolved into a supranational institution where the members delegate part of their sovereignty with an emphasis on law, foreign policy and the economy. The concept of Pax Europaea implies an era of relative peace and stability leading to prosperity. The factors mentioned above generated conditions in which we can talk about positive peace, meaning far more than absence of direct violence, i.e. different from the know concept of negative peace, which many researchers in the field of peace studies would immediately detect in the current constellation of relations. The military aggression against Ukraine re-actualized long know historical differences and interpretations of the past. It is especially important to detect the causality of the change that generates numerous challenges that will be faced by Europe and the world as a whole. Perhaps the end of the Pax Europaea concept is already in sight. The security dilemma is a product that, at the very least, contributes to an increased degree of insecurity, resulting in increased militarization and mistrust.