SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE SECURITY IN A MULTIPOLAR WORLD: A NEED FOR STRONGER INTEGRATION.

The post-cold war unipolar world turned to be multipolar, and as a result the West is increasingly struggling to find solutions for dealing with emerging threats and challenges. The European Union, still going through its own crisis, needs to establish and keep good transatlantic connections and to be able to remain or become one of the influencers in the international arena. Today's world is interdependent and not so much concentrated on security issues, threats and challenges like before, since problems of human survival and human security have arisen and are becoming increasingly serious. Theoretical approaches to international relations indicate the changes in the distribution of global power, setting up grounds for changing multipolarity and the questionable functionality of multilateralism. That could lead towards more serious confrontations among the big powers. In these constellations of the international relations, South Eastern Europe (SEE), a geopolitically very sensitive area for transatlantic partners, struggles with old and new challenges and threats, trying to find the best possible solutions to join the transatlantic family. This paper will present what are the steps in that direction, proving why stronger regional integration and cooperation is needed for better safety and security, and what is the contemporary role of NATO and the EU in SEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]