23/2025 L’Europe Unie / United Europe: EU and its Neighbours amid AI Transformation and Multi-Level Geopolitical Pressures[23/2025 L'Europe unie / United Europe]

At a time when Europe, its neighbours, and its partners are simultaneously being tested by technological transformations, geopolitical uncertainties, and tensions surrounding historical memory,¹ this special volume of L'Europe Unie / United Europe seeks to offer a space for reflection that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Continuing the excellent analyses developed in a whole series of L'Europe Unie, this volume brings together contributions united by the same high level of scholarly ambition: to understand Europe not only through its structures and norms, but also through its vulnerabilities, its ambitions, and its historical depth. The studies collected here—whether they address the new frontiers of artificial intelligence, the challenges of digital governance, the fragilities of contemporary democracy, international relations, or the strategic legacies of the nineteenth century—converge on an essential idea: European integration can only be understood at the intersection of critical reason, political responsibility, and fidelity to the lessons of the past. These contributions, all of high scientific quality, intrinsically aim to stimulate reflection on Europe's future by addressing major challenges such as defence, competitiveness, political and social integration, and strategic autonomy. They examine the structural reforms required for a more resilient and stronger Union in the face of an unstable world, involving not only institutions but also citizens, businesses, and civil society. This volume thus seeks to reaffirm that the study of Europe requires a dual vigilance: intellectual vigilance, in response to the complexity of reality; and civic vigilance, in the face of threats weighing on its foundational values. Through diverse analyses and complementary perspectives, the authors contribute to nurturing this vigilance, which is indispensable to any sustainable European ambition. The present volume testifies to L'Europe Unie's firm openness towards a truly international and interdisciplinary scientific space, bringing together scholars from a wide range of academic traditions. This edition includes contributions from 11 countries: ⁴ Estonia (Akvilė Svidraitė, Tallinn University of Technology); Georgia (Mariam Makhniashvili, Economic Policy Research Center, Tbilisi); Italy (Francesca Buiatti, University of Udine); Austria / Slovenia (Prof. Dr. Anis H. Bajrektarevic, IFIMES, Vienna / Ljubljana); Colombia (Valentina Caballero, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá); France (Raluca Anica Onufreiciuc, Université Paris–Panthéon-Assas; Dr Hedi Saidi, Université Catholique de Lille); Romania (Dr Raul Felix Hodoș, Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Crina Malcoci, UMFST; Dr Raluca Șandru and Dr Silvia Mișu, Universities of Bucharest and Cluj; Ilie Florin Ceușan, UMFST; Dr Luiza-Maria Filimon and Dr Mihaela Ivănescu, Ovidius University of Constanța; Dr Aurel Lazăr, UMFST; Dr Maria Costea, Romanian Academy; Dr Simion Costea, UMFST); Tunisia (Dr Mourad Mhenni; Dr Adel Bouzid, University of Sousse). This geographical diversity is impressive: it ensures the confrontation of perspectives, methodological exchange, and mutual enrichment of approaches. It also demonstrates the journal's capacity to attract well-established and internationally recognised scholars, published in high-impact journals (Scopus, Web of Science, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, DOAJ, etc.), as well as young researchers engaged in cutting-edge research. This articulation between established excellence and generational renewal constitutes one of the major strengths of this volume. The quality and structure of the volume—combining legal analysis, historical reflection, geopolitical study, and socio-anthropological approaches—attest to a constant scientific rigour. In doing so, the scientific identity of L'Europe Unie is further consolidated: an open, demanding research space, deeply rooted in the contemporary debates shaping the future of Europe and its partners. ¹ Simion Costea (ed.), History and Memories: Between Knowledge, Interpretations and Transmission. International Conference in Homage to Professor Hedi Saidi. Book of Abstracts / Livre des résumés, University of Sousse (Tunisia), 17–19 April 2025, coordinated by Hafedh Ben Hassine, Adel Bouzid, Manel Kanzali, and Sofiene Ben Moussa (Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2025). ² This special volume is part of a series that also includes: Natea, Mihaela Daciana; Costea, Simion (eds.), The EU Foreign and Security Dilemmas in a Challenging World (L'Europe Unie / United Europe, Paris, 19/2023, special volume), Paris–Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2023. Natea, Mihaela Daciana; Costea, Simion (eds.), EU Law and Politics at the Crossroads: Navigating the Complexities of AI, Digitalization, Data Protection, Security, and Radicalization (L'Europe Unie / United Europe, Paris, 20/2023, special volume), Paris–Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2023. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15182658. Natea, Mihaela Daciana; Costea, Simion (eds.), EU and Its Neighbours: Resilience and Multicultural Harmony (L'Europe Unie / United Europe, Paris, 21/2024, special volume), Paris–Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2024. Natea, Mihaela Daciana; Costea, Simion (eds.), EU Enlargement and Resilience: Legal and Economic Reforms on Georgia's Path to Integration (L'Europe Unie / United Europe, 22/2025, special volume), Paris–Cluj-Napoca: Napoca Star, 2025. ³ See also: Natea, Mihaela Daciana; Costea, Maria; Costea, Simion, EU Security and Multicultural Societies: Dealing with a Russian Empire Revival (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2024). Costea, Maria; Costea, Simion, "Ukraine between the EU and the Eurasian Regional Project in 2013," Transylvanian Review, Vol. XXIV, Supplement no. 1 (2015): 113–131. Simion Costea, "EU–Ukraine Relations and the Eastern Partnership: Challenges, Progress and Potential," European Foreign Affairs Review 16, no. 2 (2011): 259–276. L'Europe Unie / United Europe, no. 23/2025 10.5281/zenodo.17969062