Modern approaches towards research of the cross-border cooperation in Europe

Abstract

The effect of the "storm of the system", which began on a global scale and in particular in Europe after the deployment of the process of closing borders under the influence of the COVID 19 pandemic and reaches its peak under the influence of the crisis of the world order, provoked by the aggressive actions and global blackmail of the Russian Federation, dictates the need to quickly systematize the concepts proposed by researchers, which effectively describe the new situations and practices that have arisen at the borders of the European Union (hereinafter – the EU) and within the community during the last three years. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to systematize modern theoretical approaches to the analysis o cross-border cooperation in Europe, which were formed under the influence of new global and regional systemic challenges that destroyed the existing order of international cooperation, including cross-border cooperation.
At the present stage, the concept of "border" is used in classical interpretations formed during the 20th century, at the same time, interacting with the categories "borderland", "border zone", which received new meanings under the influence of radical changes in the economic, socio-political, cultural and security landscape of Europe The multiplicity of theoretical and practical challenges that arise in the practice of border functioning, and, therefore, the need to generalize them led to the formation of a new scientific direction, namely "border research".
As of now, border research can be divided very tentatively into two groups: the first, in which traditional methodology is used, which is based on historical, legal and geographical approaches, research on the political and administrative status of the territories that interact, their socio-economic analysis, the influence of the EU on these processes and those where the authors doubt whether in modern conditions of international instability it is possible to use old tools for studying and designing cross-border cooperation.
Further applied studies of cross-border interactions in the Central European region require the involvement of the latest theoretical and methodological tools, which, in turn, change under the influence of the latest changes in international relations, including the emergence of new influential actors of interaction on the European periphery.
If we generalize the various approaches used to develop a methodology for researching the levels of cross-border cooperation, then there is reason to conclude that, given the research task, the socioeconomic, socio-cultural, and sociological approaches are the most used.