The Center gives a special attention to governance situations that pose profound challenges involving deep heterogeneity, cleavages and radical differences of interests, values and preferences, which need nonetheless to be accommodated in peaceful and, if possible, productive ways. The Black Sea area has emerged in the last years as a significant case study of such complex regional governance challenges, ranging from the environmental to the military. The Center will dedicate a special project to the Black Sea Region. The objective is not only to improve the understanding of this vital area of interface between Europe and Asia, East and West, democracy and authoritarianism, European Union, Russia, NATO, Turkey, Caucasus and Ukraine but also to use it as a vehicle to get a better sense of the processes, institutions possible solutions at work in such cases of radical heterogeneity and deep cleavages. Center activities will include research, conferences, partnerships with universities from the region, involving joint working groups and study abroad programs.