scholarly journals The European Union as a Security Actor in the Sahel

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-412
Author(s):  
Friedrich Plank ◽  
Julian Bergmann
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Security Actor ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Strong Path ◽  
The Eu

Abstract In the past decade, the EU has significantly stepped up its profile as a security actor in the Sahel. Drawing on historical institutionalism, we conceptualise path-dependencies and lock-in effects as elements of a “foreign policy entrapment” spiral to analyse the EU’s policies towards the Sahel. Specifically, we seek to explain the EU’s increasingly widened and deepened engagement in the region. Hence, this article traces the evolution of the EU’s Sahel policy both in discourse and implementation. We identify a predominant security narrative as well as a regionalisation narrative and show that EU action has followed these narratives. Based on this analysis, we argue that the evolution of the EU’s Sahel policy can be understood as a case of “foreign policy entrapment”. Initial decisions on the overall direction of EU foreign policy have created strong path-dependencies and lock-in effects that make it difficult for EU policy-makers to change the policy course.

scholarly journals Migration issues in the EU’s common foreign and security policy – selected aspects

2021 ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Tomasz Dubowski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
External Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Eu

In the discussion on the EU migration policy, it is impossible to evade the issue of the relation between this policy and the EU foreign policy, including EU common foreign and security policy. The subject of this study are selected links between migration issues and the CFSP of the European Union. The presented considerations aim to determine at what levels and in what ways the EU’s migration policy is taken into account in the space of the CFSP as a diplomatic and political (and subject to specific rules and procedures) substrate of the EU’s external action.

scholarly journals The EU Eastern Partnership Initiative and Georgia

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5(62)) ◽  
pp. 117-140
Author(s):  
David Darchiashvili ◽  
David Bakradze
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Coercive Diplomacy ◽  
Eastern Partnership ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Eu

The article views the geographical area between the EU and Russian borders as a battle space of two, drastically different foreign policy and ideological approaches. The authors argue that in the years since the end of the Cold War, a unique surrogate of former clash of liberal and communist worlds emerged, leading to and underpinning current Hybrid Warfare, underway from Ukraine to Georgia. Its roots lay in the Russian interpretation of the Western attitude towards the East as Neo-colonialist. Relying on the income from its vast energy resources, Russia also tries to develop its version of so called “Soft Power”, used by the West in this region. Though in Russian hands, it is coupled with Moscow’s imperial experiences and resentments, and is becoming a mere element in Hybrid or “non-linear” war. Speaking retrospectively, the Eastern Partnership Initiative of the European Union can be seen as a response to Hybrid threats, posed by Russia against its Western and Southern neighbors. But the question is, whether EU foreign policy initiatives towards this area can and will be efficient and sufficient, if continued to be mostly defensive and limited within Soft Power mechanisms and philosophy, while Russia successfully combines those with traditional Hard Power know-how? The authors argue that in the long run, European or Euro-Atlantic Soft Power tool-kits, spreading Human Rightsbased culture farther in the East, will remain unmatched. But in order to prevail over the Russian revisionist policy here and now, the West, and, particularly, the EU need to re-evaluate traditional foreign policy options and come up with a more drastic combination of Soft/Hard Powers by itself. As the Georgian case shows, the European community should more efficiently use Conditionality and Coercive Diplomacy, combined with clearer messages about partners’ membership perspectives.

scholarly journals EU Policy in Central Asia

Politeja ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4(73)) ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Kamen Velichkov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Centripetal Forces ◽  
The Eu

Geography and a preference for regional approaches have an impact on EU foreign policy. From the EU perspective, the countries of Central Asia are classified as “neighbors of EU neighbors.” The EU’s policies assume the existence of strong centripetal forces in the Eurasian heartland, whereas in fact the regionalization is still in the initial stages there. Consequently, EU foreign policy in Central Asia pursues both structural and relational objectives. The specific goals and performance of EU member states add a two-tier dimension to this process. In parallel with other external actors such as Japan, the United States, South Korea, and India, the European Union conducts its dialogue and cooperation with the Central Asian states in a 5+1 format. Compared to the policies of China, Turkey, or Russia, the EU has much more limited influence. It primarily aims to support the independent development of the Central Asian countries, for which some degree of regionalization appears to be a prerequisite.

scholarly journals Ideas, Individuals and Institutions: Notion and Practices of a European Electricity System

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
VINCENT LAGENDIJK
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Electricity Market ◽  
Electricity Supply ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Electricity System ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
European System ◽  
Strong Path

Based upon extensive multi-archival research, this article traces the long lineage of the notion of European electricity network. Since the 1930s engineers and policy makers conceived of a geographical conception for rationalising and optimising electricity supply: a European one. This article purports that three vectors undergirded threads of continuity: institutional, intellectual and physical (technological networks). These vectors, and the actors involved in them, created strong path dependencies that kept the idea of a European system firmly on the agenda. Today's international electricity market of the European Union should be seen as an extension of this legacy.

MANAGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CROSS-BORDER PROJECTS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES AS A PROSPECT OF INTEGRATION FOR UKRAINE

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Marta Sydoruk
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
European Neighbourhood Policy ◽  
Financial Instruments ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Visegrad Group ◽  
The Eu

The present study aims to analyze the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy as a concept of relations between Ukraine and the European Union (EU). The paper starts with an overview of the Ukraine-EU relations and the outline of Ukraine’s reasons for seeking closer ties with the European Union. This article introduces shaping the Eastern dimension of the EU foreign policy as a result of cooperation with the European Union and enhancing of the European Neighbourhood Policy financial instruments.

To What Ends EU Foreign Policy? Contending Approaches to the Union’s Diplomatic Objectives and Representation

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Thomas ◽  
Ben Tonra
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
External Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Eu

Summary The strengthened Office of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the new European External Action Service (EEAS) presuppose a set of interests and/or values that the European Union (EU) wishes to pursue on the world stage. But what are those interests and/or values and how does the EU reach agreement on them? Rather than simply ‘cutting and pasting’ from EU treaties and strategy papers, this article identifies seven distinct theoretical models of how the EU and its member states arrive collectively at a definition of their diplomatic objectives. The seven models include intergovernmentalist models of veto threats and log-rolling, normative institutionalist models of cooperative bargaining and entrapment, and constructivist and sociological institutionalist models of elite socialization, Europeanization and collective identity formation. The article identifies the logics of each model and notes their implications for the role of the EU’s new foreign policy institutions.

scholarly journals The Common Foreign and Security Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hylke Dijkstra ◽  
Sophie Vanhoonacker
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Eu

The member states of the European Union (EU) coordinate, define, and implement foreign policy in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). This policy area, often referred to as EU foreign policy, has a broad scope covering all areas of foreign policy and all questions relating to security and defense. The CFSP is supported by a unique institutional framework, in which member states diplomats and officials from the EU institutions jointly make policy. It is led by the High Representative, who is the “face and voice” of EU foreign policy, and supported by the substantial European External Action Service and 140 EU delegations in other countries and international organizations. Because foreign policy is normally the business of sovereign states, the exceptional nature of the CFSP has long been a subject of inquiry. The CFSP has particularly puzzled advocates of the traditional theories of European integration and international relations, who have failed to appreciate what the EU does in the field of high politics. Given the absence of formal diplomatic recognition and a strong reliance on the resources of the member states, the EU is still not a full-fledged actor, yet it has a strong international presence nonetheless. Its presence and the gradual increase in “actorness” have also raised questions about whether the EU presents a different type of actor, a civilian or normative power, which derives its influence from non-traditional sources of power. Under the assumption that the EU has some actorness, the Europeanization of foreign policy has become an area of interest. Member states can act through the EU structure to achieve more impact internationally, can adjust national foreign policy on the basis of EU positions, and are socialized into greater European coordination. The relationship between national and EU foreign policy is thus a significant topic of debate. Finally, governance perspectives increasingly provide insight into the organization of the CFSP. How the member states and the EU institutions collectively coordinate, define, and implement EU foreign policy is not only an important question in itself but also matters for policy outcomes.

scholarly journals Contemporary Policy Challenges Identity in the EU

2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (7) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Lyubov Fadeeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Main Emphasis ◽  
European Values ◽  
The Eu

The author of the article attempts to use the theories of the European identity, memory politics, identity politics by placing them in the context of the European (international) security. The author considers it fundamentally important to pay attention not so much to the threats to European identity, but to how identity is used to legitimize foreign policy of the European Union. The article highlights such perspectives of this problem as the confrontation inside the EU on the politics of memory and identity and the justification of the EU foreign policy towards Russia by the need to protect the European identity and European values. The author uses the discourse-analysis and identity research methods. The main emphasis is placed on the competitiveness of identity politics and the possibilities of using it for political purposes, to legitimize solutions to ensure the security of the European Union and the world as a whole.

scholarly journals IMPACT OF GEOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENT FACTORS ON THE POST-SOVIET STATES

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The European Union ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Baltic Countries ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Eu

The basic formatting and reformatting factors of the geopolitical post-Soviet space and its features are considered. Based on the consideration of the theoretical contribution of H. Mackinder, J. Chellen, K. Haushofer it is indicated that the formation of the main foreign policy trends of the European states. The evolution of socio-political system transformation, economic development and foreign policy of states, which are collectively accessible by the territory is traced. The attention is focused on the development of geopolitical doctrine. The ripening of the very idea of uniting Europe and the first attempts to implement it, indicating that further changes in the geopolitical configuration after the Second World War of the European states is considered. It is proved that the very fact of the European Union functioning and existence is a powerful geopolitical mechanism for the post-Soviet states. The historical, economic and civilizational reasons for such choice for the post-Soviet states (in the context of Russia, the Baltic countries, Belarus and Moldova) are highlighted. The prospects for cooperation with the EU, prospective EU cooperation programs, accession to the EU are examined. It is concluded that there are two powerful policy-makers: the EU and the Russian Federation as the most important geopolitical factors of the post-Soviet states.

scholarly journals EU Military Operations as a Tool in the EU’s Foreign Policy Toolbox – The Main Trends and Limitations

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-35
Author(s):  
Kamil Zajączkowski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Military Training ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Security Actor ◽  
The Eu

The main aim of the article is to characterise and analyse EU military operations, taking into account their objectives, assumptions, successes as well as their limitations and weaknesses. The author focusses his research on EU activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following research questions were posed: – what is the specifi city and characteristic features of EU military crisis management operations; – to what extent and in what direction are military operations launched by the EU evolving; – in what way do EU military operations infl uence the perception of the EU as a civilian and normative power and affect the development of the EU as a security actor; – what are the main limitations and weaknesses of EU military operations and what is their future in EU foreign policy? The author applied the following research methods: factorial, comparative, scenario, quantitative, and qualitative analysis. The main conclusion is that the EU’s military operations and its military training missions should solely be perceived as one of the elements (measures) in EU foreign policy. As has been indicated in the title of the article, they are “a tool in the EU’s foreign policy toolbox”.

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