The European Union’s geopolitical turn and Central Asia as seen from the postcolonial perspective. Part I

The European Union’s geopolitical turn leads to a revision of the bloc’s external action, including towards Central Asia (CA). Based on a postcolonial approach that views colonization as a key structuring factor of contemporary international relations, and the method of discourse analysis, this study consisting of 2 separate publications clarifies how connectivity, which has become in the context of the geopolitical turn a priority of EU policy in Central Asia, affects the structure of the EU’s normative hegemony in the region as well as the Central Asian states’ normative agency. To set the stage for postcolonial analysis, Part I of this research traces the formation of a hierarchical normative structure in the experience of interaction between the European Union and Central Asian states before the geopolitical turn began. To this end, the models of EU normative influence central to this study are theorized — normative power Europe and resilience, then an analysis is carried out how Brussels, permanently positioning itself as a normative centre, changed its approach to the transfer of its norms in Central Asia, and finally, the functioning of the normative hegemony of the European Union is demonstrated, i. e., a situation in which the EU is recognized by Central Asian actors as an authoritative source of the normal. Part II of this research first outlines the basic principles of the postcolonial approach; further, taking into account the dialogic model adopted in postcolonial studies, an explanation is given of why the colonized is capable of not only submitting to the normative requirements of the colonizer, but also influencing the latter’s policy; in the final part of the study, the concept of EU connectivity is analyzed and a conclusion is drawn on how Central Asian states can strengthen their normative agency in relation to Brussels through participation in European connectivity projects.