European Union Foreign Policy In A Changing 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.

The European Union's foreign policy and its international role are increasingly being contested both globally and at home. At the global level, a growing number of states are now challenging the Western-led liberal order defended by the EU. Large as well as smaller states are vying for more leeway to act out their own communitarian principles on and approaches to sovereignty, security and economic development. At the European level, a similar battle has begun over principles, values and institutions. The most vocal critics have been anti-globalization movements, developmental NGOs, and populist political parties at both extremes of the left-right political spectrum. This book, based on ten case studies, explores some of the most important current challenges to EU foreign policy norms, whether at the global, glocal or intra-EU level. The case studies cover contestation of the EU's fundamental norms, organizing principles and standardized procedures in relation to the abolition of the death penalty, climate, Responsibility to Protect, peacebuilding, natural resource governance, the International Criminal Court, lethal autonomous weapons systems, trade, the security-development nexus and the use of consensus on foreign policy matters in the European Parliament. The book also theorizes the current norm contestation in terms of the extent to, and conditions under which, the EU foreign policy is being put to the test.

This book explores how the European Union responds to the ongoing challenges to the liberal international order. These challenges arise both within the EU itself and beyond its borders, and put into question the values of free trade and liberal democracy. The book’s interdisciplinary approach brings together scholars from economics, law, and political science to provide a comprehensive analysis of how shifts in the international order affect the global position of the EU in dimensions such as foreign and security policy, trade, migration, populism, rule of law, and climate change. All chapters include policy recommendations which make the book particularly useful for decision makers and policy advisors, besides researchers and students, as well as for anyone interested in the future of the EU.

"Explores European foreign policy and the degree of European Union success in proposing itself as a valid international actor, drawing from the expertise of scholars and practitioners in many disciplines. Addresses issues past and present, theoretical and practice-oriented, and country- and region-specific"-- Provided by publisher.

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 timely book explores the current state of EU-Africa relations from a multidisciplinary perspective, placing emphasis on recent developments in five areas that are crucial for EU-Africa relations: development cooperation, trade, migration, security and democratization. It considers how Africa’s dependence on the EU has decreased due to the declining importance of development cooperation, and increasing cooperation with emerging powers, notably the BRIC nations.

Scholars and policymakers in EU foreign policy lament the EU's inability to assert itself on the world stage. This book explains this weakness by arguing that EU foreign policy is burdened by various internal functions, and systemizes the analysis of internal functionality, pushing the study beyond the concern with effectiveness.