Since the cessation of the Cold War, the dynamic of relations between European states has been one of dramatic and continuous change. In the last ten years, an extraordinary sequence of events has unfolded in the ex-Soviet constellation, including EU enlargement, NATO expansion, and Russian opportunism in efforts to fulfill and defend the geostrategic interests of these and other state and non-state actors. Competing Powers: Security in the Wider Black Sea Region, edited by Scott Nicholas Romaniuk, delivers essential reflections on issues of foreign, security, and defense policy, militarism, conditionality, and democracy promotion through sector-specific cooperation. Articulate and faultlessly researched, the contributors of this volume adeptly navigate the morass of elements taking form in the European space, and provide provocative accounts of the factors challenging peace and security in an ever evolving Europe and its hotly contested spheres. This volume brings together experts who have distinguished themselves in public and academic spheres, all of whom deliver striking accounts of the forces that have and continue to hammer the Black Sea Region and its inhabitants.