Speaking at a recent Kennan Institute talk, Tedo Japaridze, former foreign minister, Republic of Georgia, former secretary general, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, and public policy scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center, discussed the prospects for cooperation in the wider Black Sea region. He analyzed the challenges facing this strategic region, and described the possible role that could be played by the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in facing them.

BSEC is the only fully-fledged regional organization dedicated to increasing economic cooperation in the Black Sea area, Japaridze said. Talks began in Istanbul in 1992 on founding the organization, and it was recognized as an international organization by the United Nations in 2003. Currently, it includes Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia. Observers include the United States, Croatia, Poland, and Belarus, among others. Japaridze stressed that the organization is not a political union, nor is it an alternative to the EU or any other organization. The goal of the organization is to boost economic cooperation among its members, he said.

Japaridze said he wanted to counter the perception of the Black Sea as a Russian-Turkish lake. Instead, he stressed, the Black Sea region is a strategic corridor and a vital crossroads that stretches from the Balkans to countries bordering the Caspian Sea. The area is extremely important in terms of energy supplies as well as European, Eurasian, and Middle Eastern security, he said.

Although there is great potential for economic cooperation, the situation is often complicated by political problems, including the "frozen conflicts" of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, and Kosovo, Japaridze said. These conflicts slow development, encourage lawlessness, and provide havens for a host of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, counterfeiting, and money laundering, according to Japaridze. In addition, he said, historical and cultural disagreements contribute to infighting among member states, including those between Turkey and Armenia and between Russia and Georgia, for example.

Japaridze is optimistic that economic development can become a driving force of integration in the region. Through its promotion of closer economic relations between its member states, BSEC can help contribute to the resolution of these issues, he concluded.