As the world looks to Europe to take on more responsibility in international politics and security in the devastating aftermath of Bosnia and Kosovo, this pathbreaking book provides the first systematic evaluation of the political impact of the European Union (EU) on a global scale. Little is known of the EU's international political influence, yet if the EU is to develop a viable Common Foreign and Security Policy, other actors will have to perceive the Union as an important player. Roy Ginsberg fills this vital gap by first linking the contexts and sources of EU foreign policy actions with the processes and outputs of decisionmaking and then examining how outsiders view the EU. Combining a masterly synthesis of the literature with invaluable primary interviews and case studies that document the reach of and limits to the EU's political influence, Ginsberg takes the study of EU foreign policy to a new level of analysis. By defining, describing, and explaining the different levels and degrees of external political impact, the book serves as a model for the advancement of conceptual knowledge, rigorous political science research, and state-of-the-art survey techniques and methodology. Scholars, students, and practitioners alike will find this rounded and nuanced work indispensable for understanding EU involvement in international politics seen from the perspective of non-EU players, particularly after the war in Kosovo; the enactment of the Treaty of Amsterdam; the Irish "no" vote for the Treaty of Nice; and the efforts forged by the Europeans to operationalize the new political, security, and military committees associated with the European Security and Defense Policy.

Divisions in the EU are considered, as well as the conflicts that have arisen from enlargement and foreign policy concerns. Leading specialists on European politics and society reflect on the nature of consensus and competition between elites, and whether the EU may be able to provide a sense of common identity and purpose for its citizens.

Two major themes in contemporary international relations—Sino-European relations and global governance—are both addressed in this volume. In its focused analysis of Sino-European relations, global governance serves as both a topic for analysis and a conceptual framework to join together individual chapters. Featuring perspectives from a diverse group of established and promising young scholars from China, Europe, and elsewhere, this book has important implications for Chinese foreign policy, the European Union, the future of global governance, and international relations at large.

The European Union (EU) is a unique political experiment that challenges many of the prevailing assumptions about world politics. This new book, by one of the leading American scholars on the EU, examines its key role in global politics and how the continued success of European integration means that scholars must rethink international relations theory. Drawing on the author's rich array of theory and empirical research in this area, this book addresses many of the key issues facing the EU. Core subjects covered include: theories of European integration liberal international relations theory constructivism and the EU legitimacy in the EU European integration and national policies human rights and international law transatlantic relations. Andrew Moravcsik has made many seminal contributions to our understanding of the European Union. This is essential new reading for all students and scholars with an interest in the EU, international relations and theories of world politics.

This accessible new textbook situates the European Union in a dramatically changed world order. Resisting a more traditional and abstract introduction to the institutions, structures and policy making processes of the EU, this innovative new text cuts through the jargon to demonstrate how hard the EU must work to retain its international influence. Taking into account the latest empirical developments, including the spread of war and violence in the East with Ukraine and the ongoing turbulent politics of North Africa and the Middle East, Richard Youngs – an expert in the field – introduces us to how the EU has been forced to act differently. The book is unique in offering an outside-in conceptual framework that inverts the way that the EU external action is studied and understood. It unpacks the different international challenges the EU has faced in recent years, including the weakening of global order, the need for more protective security, geo-economic competition, climate change and conflicts to its east and south. In each case the book examines how the EU has responded and how its core international identity has changed as a result, assessing whether the Union still retains strong global influence. This book is the ideal companion for students taking modules on the European Union's foreign policy, global politics, and for students of European Union Politics more broadly at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Debates on EU foreign policy have been dominated by two opposing schools of argument. One includes a broad range of work that extols the virtues of a European liberal concept of power and the other sees the EU’s commitment to cosmopolitan liberalism and soft power as a sign of weakness rather than strength. This book judges the EU on its own terms as a liberal power, examining its policy record, rather than simply asserting that the EU’s liberal commitments in themselves denote either a superior or inferior foreign policy approach. Youngs argues that the challenges facing Europe’s role in the world appear to be in its retreat from liberal internationalism through a series of case studies on policy areas: trade, multilateral diplomacy, security, development cooperation, democracy and human rights, and energy security. Presenting detailed evidence that show the EU is moving away from cosmopolitan strategy, Youngs asserts that Europe needs to reassess its foreign policies if it is to defend the kind of liberal world order necessary for its own and other countries’ long term interests. This book will be of strong interest to students and scholars of European politics, Foreign Policy and International Relations.

Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 86, Liverpool John Moores University, course: International politics, language: English, abstract: It is widely agreed that the EU plays an increasingly important role in world politics. This essay will investigate to what extent is EU an actor in terms of its global economic, political and military role. It should be noted that these areas are not isolated and clearly separable. On the contrary, they are closely interrelated and often overlapping. The essay concludes that the EU has a significant role in world politics in economic and to a lesser extent in political terms, however in military terms, EU has not been able or willing to develop strong foreign policy. While EU’s ability to translate its presence into actorness has been often criticised, it has nevertheless, assumed a leading role in many areas, such as development assistance, peacekeeping and environmental protection.