This volume explores the common trends and differences in the responses of the new post-Soviet states to the problems of state-building in ethnically and regionally divided societies.

EU conditionality for membership is widely understood as having been a driving force for Europeanization, providing incentives and sanctions for compliance or noncompliance with EU norms, such as the "Copenhagen Criteria" and the adoption of the acquis communautaire. By taking regional policy and regionalization as a case study, this book provides a comparative analysis of the effects of conditionality on the Central and East European countries and explores the many paradoxes and weaknesses in the use of EU conditionality over time.