The Uncertain Revival of Central Europe: (The Central European Thought from the Hungarian Perspective)

Andrea Schmidt

doi:10.12797/Politeja.15.2018.57.11

Authors

Andrea Schmidt University of Pécs

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.15.2018.57.11

Keywords:

transformation, historical region, bordering, periphery

Abstract

The recent crisis the European Union had to face raised the question it there still exists a cleavage that divides the “old Europe” from the Eastern regions. The phenomenon, Central Europe can be examined from the historical, cultural, geographic and political perspective searching for the answer, how many parts the European continent can be divided into. Accepting the tripartite division, this “middle” position had various roles in the historical context. The aim of the paper is to investigate the changes in the perception of this special position based mostly on the works of Hungarian researchers. Analysing their thoughts, it is also our intention to examine the Central European concept and to point how this region was searching for its position during the system change, and what additional meaning was given to this region from the 1980s to nowadays. In order to extend the investigation, this paper also focuses on the problem whether Central Europe serves as a historical reference point losing its importance with the European integration, or if it can serve as an obstacle in the deepening of the European integration.

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Author Biography

Andrea Schmidt, University of Pécs

PhD − a political scientist and an Associate Professor at the University of Pecs, Hungary, Department of Political Sciences, and International Studies and former Visiting Lecturer and the Josai Institute for Central European Studies Josai International University, Tokyo, Japan, and Visiting Lecturer at Ivan Franko National University in L’viv, Ukraine. She studied at the University of Pecs, the Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest and at the Central European University where she participated at Modern History programme focusing on Central and Eastern Europe. She also studied at the Jagiellonian University at the Faculty of History and at the Polonia Research Institute in Cracow, Poland. She specializes on International Political Economy and Comparative Political Studies of the Central and Eastern European region. She did her habilitation on International Relations focusing on Geo‑economics. She is author of several articles and book chapters related to Central and Eastern European and post‑Soviet region.

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