East European Countries after the Breakup of Communism and the Ongoing Challenge of European Integration

The status of Europe and East Asia in the transition of world order can be analyzed under different aspects. One of the most important criteria distinguishing the different strategies of European and East Asian countries is the attitude towards regional integration versus cooperation. While Europe simultaneously tries to deepen and enlarge the area of integration, East Asian countries try to preserve their national sovereignty and focus on bilateral and multilateral models of cooperation. Rather than comparing the strategies applied in Eastern Asia and focuses on the aspects determining importance and position in the "'1I""1~1Il~ to find a common to all European countries. This common position refers to the internal European Union's sphere on the one hand and to international problems on the other hand. The capability to speak with one voice has already been very difficult in the pre-enlargement Europe, but today, after the accession of ten Central and Eastern European countries it is nearly impossible in most political areas. This conclusion can be drawn based upon different political, military or economic topics. This article states that one important point is that the integration of these Eastern countries, now members of the European Union, is not completed at all. This ongoing integration is not only an internal challenge for the former transition countries, but an obstacle for the European integration as a whole. The EU as a non-integrated and according to most criteria very heterogeneous international actor suffers from these integration deficits as a whole. An ongoing integration redirects funds, fragments political and economic elites and introduces selection criteria that can counteract integration. This influences Europe's position in the world order and determines the fate of the integration process as well as Europe's importance in the international competition of regional actors.