scholarly journals Mars and Venus in Action? The US and EU’s foreign relations strategies in academic discourse

2018 ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Ieva Giedraityte
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The Us ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Comparison Criteria ◽  
Level Of Analysis ◽  
The Eu

[full article and abstract in English] This article reviews the existing academic literature that compares and explains the differences between the US and the EU’s external actions. An analytical matrix is devised to group publications by level of analysis (micro-, mid-, and macro) and by theme of comparison criteria. The key findings are that in the macro level of analysis, authors tend to compare the role actors have in international relations before claiming either that the EU is a different kind of power due to its peculiar historical experience, or that the EU is weak due to its complicated structure and lack of military capacities. Furthermore, authors conducting their analyses at the micro level tend to find more similarities between the EU and the US’s external actions than those working at the macro level. The article concludes by making a point in favour of further comparisons as an essential tool to better understand the EU and other actors in international relations.

The crisis of multilateralism and EU–Russia cooperation

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
FRANCO BRUNI ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Multiple Methods ◽  
The Us ◽  
Good For ◽  
East West ◽  
The Eu

The article is devoted to problems in relations between the EU and Russia. Multiple methods are considered that are aimed at solving the problem of multilateralism in current conditions. The author selected and studied specific documents on essential aspects that are devoted to this topic. Studying the arising problems requires careful consideration since, in the modern world, cooperation between global actors such as the EU and Russia cannot be ignored. Despite all the challenges faced by the parties in their fields, all difficulties are conquerable, and the article provides specific methods for its solving. The article discusses some aspects and problems that require particular attention from specialists in this field. The author concludes that strong US–EU coalition could seem more coherent with history and with the traditional East–West divide. However, the recent evolution of the US attitude towards international relations weakens the probability of such coalition and its perceived payoffs. A more or less defensive Russia–China coalition has been tried with limited results; moreover, if it were possible and probable, the two western players would change their strategy to prevent it or to contain its depth. In fact, we live in a world where many talks of a serious possibility of G2 governance, a peculiar type of coalition where the US and China keep hostile and nationalistic attitudes but join forces to set the global stage in their favor, pursuing a qualitatively limited but quantitatively rich payoff. In such world, as a counterpart of this payoff, both the divided Europe and the economically much smaller Russia would lose power and suffer several kinds of economic disadvantages. Therefore, Greater Europe would be good for Russia and for the EU as well.

scholarly journals The Pandemic and the Crisis in the System of International Relations

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
Al. A. Gromyko
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Strategic Autonomy ◽  
The Eu

The research is focused on several key problems in the system of international relations influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is shown that the events caused by it and broadly identified as a coronacrisis have a direct impact on the world economic contradictions (pandenomica) and political ones, including the sphere of security. These particular aspects are chosen as the main objects of the research. The author contends that the factor of the pandemic has sharpened the competition between regional and global players and has increased the role of a nation- state. In the conditions of transregional deglobalisation, regionalism and “protectionism 2.0” get stronger under the banners of “strategic vulnerability” and “economic sovereignty”. A further weakening of multilateral international institutions continues. The EU endeavours to secure competitive advantages on the basis of relocalisation, industrial and digital policies and the Green Deal. The article highlights the deterioration in the relations among Russia, the US, the EU and China, the unfolding decoupling between Washington and its European allies, which stimulates the idea of the EU strategic autonomy. An urgent need for the deconfliction in Russia – NATO interaction is stated.

Turning Point

Peacemakers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Pardew
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
International Effort ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Us ◽  
Western Values ◽  
Us Intervention ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Local Leaders

The breakup of Yugoslavia is a turning point in international relations with consequences far beyond the region. The US intervention in the former Yugoslavia reestablishes American leadership in Europe. It revitalizes and reforms NATO and the EU and creates new relationships with the UN. The international effort in the former Yugoslavia creates seven new nations oriented toward Western values. Importantly, the US engagement creates an opportunity to replace ethnic conflict with democracy in the Balkans. While the US should remain engaged, success depends on the commitment of local leaders to change.

From Decentring Agenda to Decentring Application. An Illustrative Case of Decentring the EU’s Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-108
Author(s):  
Patrik Taufar
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Strategic Policy ◽  
Identification Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Work ◽  
The Eu

In recent years the international landscape has undergone major shifts and deep transformations. These facts are mirrored in the academic literature introducing concepts of Global International Relations, pluralization of agency and norms contestation. Particularly, European studies is now confronted with a challenging task to contribute to the identification, analysis and further outline of the appropriate strategies for the EU in this new complex and more demanding reality. One of the latest conceptual attempts proposes solutions which ‘make sense of our multipolar order and…reconstitute European agency in a non-European world’ arrived in the package of the so-called ‘Decentring agenda’ (Nikolaïdis & Fisher Onar 2013). Recently authors have delivered on the operationalization of the decentring agenda into various spheres of scientific inquiry dealing with European affairs (Keukeleire & Lecocq, 2018). This article aims to further extend the reach of decentring, specifically towards practical application of decentring in strategic policy planning and policymaking. The EU’s External Human Rights Policy (EHRP) is a particularly sensitive subject calling for the application of the decentring approach. Particularly in this paper, decentring is demonstrated and illustratively applied on the very basic, direct and strategic level of Human Rights and Democracy Country Strategies (HRDCS). It intends to fill the small but crucial gap between academic conceptual work, which is still not fully in touch with practical application, and the demand from the side of policymakers who lack time for study and ‘translation’ of conceptual innovations stemming from political theory and political science into their daily practice.

Policy Networks in Britain

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. W. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Group Dynamics ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Analysis Group ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Industry Relations ◽  
Level Of Analysis ◽  
The Eu

In an assessment of the distinctive British contribution to the study of policy networks, the chapter reviews, first, the micro-level of analysis: group dynamics, and social network analysis. Second, it examines the meso-level of analysis: interorganizational analysis, subgovernments, and intergovernmental relations. Third, it looks at the macro-level of analysis: political economy, and neo-pluralism. It assesses the British contributions looking at the Rhodes model, the ESRC’s government–industry relations initiative. The chapter suggests that we disaggregate and explore subsectoral variations, extend the analysis to the EU, and provide more case studies of networks ‘in action’. The article was written in 1990. The Afterword reflects on the success of the concept, which has become the standard fare of textbooks.

scholarly journals Violence Against Civilians During Armed Conflict: Moving Beyond the Macro- and Micro-Level Divide

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laia Balcells ◽  
Jessica A. Stanton
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Event Data ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Violence Against Civilians ◽  
Different Levels

Early research on wartime violence against civilians highlighted a distinction between macro- and micro-level approaches. Macro-level approaches, grounded in the international relations subfield, focus on variation across countries or conflicts, while micro-level approaches, more influenced by the comparative politics subfield, focus on variation within countries or conflicts. However, some of the recent research on civilian targeting does not fit neatly into this dichotomy—such as research comparing subnational units or armed groups across conflicts or research relying on geo-referenced event data for multiple conflicts. We review the literature and advocate moving beyond the language of the micro- and macro-level divide, instead focusing on the determinants of violence against civilians at five different levels of analysis: international, domestic, subnational, organizational, and individual. While acknowledging significant advances in the field, we argue for continued research aimed at developing a more integrated theoretical understanding of the multiple actors and interactive social processes driving violence against civilians. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 11, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Positions of leaders of FRG and France on the way to European unity (1949–1958)

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-663
Author(s):  
O.G. Nekrylova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
European Unity ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Eu

Russian cooperation with the EU countries is currently an important factor in preserving peace on the European continent and affects the entire system of international relations. The need to study the historical experience of European integration is confirmed by the fact that in the conditions of the modern world, European states inevitably become active participants in the integration processes, both global and regional. The article is devoted to the analysis of various foreign policy concepts on European integration in the period 1949–1958. The positions of European leaders, as well as the complex and controversial process of rapprochement between Germany and France in the post-war period, has become a kind of historical prologue that helps today to form a more complete picture of the initial stage of the creation of the EU. The rejection of bloc thinking by «federalists» who tried to overcome the already accomplished division of Europe and supporters of this section by contrasting the West and the East, including the USA, defined strategic concepts in understanding of the integration process by many politicians of that time, including the leaders of Germany and France. The contradictions between them never disappeared completely, but manifested themselves in one form or another at the turning points of European integration.

Mechanisms and microfoundations in International Relations theory

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-389
Author(s):  
WILLIAM MCGINLEY
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Central Place ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Ir Theory ◽  
Unit Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Micro Level

AbstractThis article looks at prospects for a mechanism-based research strategy in the study of International Relations. Over the past three decades, the notions of mechanism and microfoundation have taken a central place in discussions of explanation and ‘micro-macro’ problems in social science. The upshot of much of this discussion has been a call for mechanism-based explanations – explanations of macro-level phenomena in terms of micro-level mechanisms. Some work of this kind can already be found in IR theory, including in systemic research. However, a number of IR theorists, including Kenneth Waltz and Alexander Wendt, have argued that micro-oriented strategies like this will not work, pointing to incongruities between system- and unit-level phenomena. This article argues that these pose less hindrance to a fully-developed model of mechanism-based explanation, and that the field has much to gain from further exploration of this strategy. In particular, mechanism-based explanations could help bring structure back to the centre of discussion in IR theory, and might even give us a way out of the field's own micro-macro problems.

The International Politics of EU-China Relations

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Fei
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Politics ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Context ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Us ◽  
China Development ◽  
The Eu

The European Union and China have emerged as new international actors. They have an increasingly diverse relationship covering the economy, politics, technology, culture and education; but beyond these two-way linkages EU–China development is also changing the international political environment. One noted US scholar, David Shambaugh, has pointed to a ‘Strategic Triangle’ between the US, the EU, and China. Several other major actors such as Japan, India and Russia are also interested in the ‘EU factor’ in their relations with China; or the ‘China factor’ in their EU relations. This volume presents contributions from scholars from Europe and China, which debate the nature, problems and potential of the emerging strategic relationship between the EU and China. Several papers develop theoretical approaches to regionalism and inter-regionalism. This book provides an overview of EU–China relations and the wider international context, and it will be of interest to anyone interested in international relations.

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