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Concept
Politics of Europe
Summary
The politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent of Europe. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as well as the modern day trend towards increased political unity amongst the European states.
The current politics of Europe can be traced back to historical events within the continent. Likewise geography, economy, and culture have contributed to the current political make-up of Europe.
Modern European politics is dominated by the European Union, since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc of Communist states. After the end of the Cold War, the EU expanded eastward to include the former Communist countries. As of 31 January 2020, the EU has 27 member states.
However, there are a number of other international organizations made up predominantly of European nations, or explicitly claiming a European origin, including the 46-nation Council of Europe - the first post-war European organization, regarded as a fore-runner to the European Union - and the 57-nation Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Despite vastly improved relations between Russia and the Western European states since the end of the cold war, recently tensions have risen over the spread of "Western" organizations, particularly the EU and NATO, eastwards into former USSR states.
Many European states have either joined or stated their ambition to join the European Union.
There are few conflicts within Europe, although there remain problems in the Western Balkans, the Caucasus, Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom and the Basque Country in Spain.
According to 2007 data published in 2008 by Freedom House, the countries of Europe that cannot be classified liberal electoral democracies are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Kazakhstan and Russia.
European states are members of a large number of international organizations, mainly economical, although several are political, or both.
Official source
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