European Foreign Policy In An Evolving International System

European Foreign Policy in an Evolving International System provides the reader with an updated assessment of European Foreign Policy fifteen years after Maastricht. The contributions analyze the level of policy convergence achieved by EU member states in crucial areas and regions of the world.

The second edition of European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World provides a clear introduction to the complexities of contemporary European foreign policy and offers a fresh and distinctive perspective on the nature of the EU’s international identity. Thoroughly revised and expanded, the book explores how and why the EU tries to achieve five core foreign policy objectives: the encouragement of regional cooperation; the advancement of human rights; the promotion of democracy and good governance; the prevention of violent conflicts; and the fight against international crime, including terrorism. In pursuing these goals, the book illustrates how the EU is faced with acute policy dilemmas because the five objectives not only clash with each other, but also with additional policy priorities – such as securing energy supplies or establishing strategic partnerships with key powers. The uniqueness of the EU as a global actor is carefully assessed, and its key policies and the related dilemmas it faces compared with those of other international actors. This well-written and thoroughly researched book will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students of European politics, foreign policy analysis, international relations and related disciplines.

This volume brings together senior practitioners and academic specialists to consider how the EU’s new foreign policy has been evolving and how the various actors are maintaining the holistic approach intended by the draftsmen of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.

This volume addresses how and in what capacity the European Union and its member states are able to respond to fundamental shifts occurring in global politics and remain relevant for the future. The changing nature of the international system is subject to considerable contestation among scholars, with many claiming that the fundamentals of the post-war international system are being rewritten. This volume brings together prominent scholars in the field of European security to address a range of pertinent issues related to Europe’s role in the context of evolving global challenges. The first section focuses on whether the EU is an actor with a strategic nature and the means to act on a global security strategy. The second section considers the institutional dynamics and the approaches at the EU’s disposal to fulfil its possible intended global roles. The third section addresses Europe’s most important strategic relationship—the partnership it has with the United States. This section considers the recalibration of the transatlantic relationship in light of the changing international system and the reorientation of U.S. foreign policy. This book will be of much interest to students of European Union policy, European Security policy, European Foreign policy and International Relations in general.

In addition, two substantial critiques by specialists from outside the field explore the issues raised in this book from a feminist perspective as well as from a post-modern view of the wider theoretical context within which foreign policy analysis is embedded.

Relations between the European Union and China have grown at a sustained pace across the board in recent times, transforming the relationship from one of previous neglect into a matter of global strategic significance. This book offers an examination of the evolution of contemporary EU-China relations in the economic, technological and high politics dimensions, including implications of the high-tech and security-related elements of the relationship (space and satellite navigation cooperation; advanced technology transfers; arms sales, including the proposal to lift the EU arms embargo on China) for the United States and its East Asian allies. The analysis of EU-China relations is placed in the context of evolving dynamics in transatlantic relations on the one hand, and East Asia's major powers' changing security perceptions on the other. With this approach, this study intends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the global significance acquired by Sino-European relations, while also raising the question as to whether, and to what extent, the promotion of EU space and defence interests in China has made the EU a novel strategic factor in East Asia. This book contributes to current debates on the emerging global order, including discussions of how European and Chinese policy makers would perceive the post-Cold War international system, evaluate the place and role of their countries in it, and appraise the policies to be adopted to maintain global competitiveness in key strategic industrial sectors and increase political autonomy in an international environment characterised by US primacy.

International Relations: A European Perspective presents the main schools of international relations while underlining the added value of the European approach. Contrary to US or East Asian perspectives, a European viewpoint adopts a critical approach to traditional cleavages. The author demonstrates the added value of a European approach to international relations, taking into account both the shortcomings and achievements found within European history and current European unity. Key themes include: the evolution of state sovereignty, regional cooperation between previous enemies, political impact of economic integration, regimes building, international rule setting, institutionalization of international relations, and the weight of ideas and perceptions by transnational cooperation. This comprehensive assessment takes into consideration every school of international relations critically presented from this original perspective and as such makes the book ideal for courses on international relations.