European Union as an International Actor
- LAST REVIEWED: 18 November 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 24 April 2012
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0007
- LAST REVIEWED: 18 November 2020
- LAST MODIFIED: 24 April 2012
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0007
Introduction
The study of the European Union (EU) as an international actor has expanded rapidly in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The early years of informal European Political Cooperation (EPC) among the member states and the external relations of the then–European Communities (EC) in the 1970s through the late 1980s inspired little academic interest, because the EU’s role in the world was limited and often undervalued. With the institutionalization of European foreign policymaking through the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and later the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in the 1990s, more scholars, especially of European integration and international relations (IR), began to focus their efforts on understanding this newly visible international role of the EU. Yet, the EU’s role as an international actor goes beyond merely the CFSP and the ESDP; it also includes policy areas, such as development, environment, and trade. Furthermore, through these policies the EU has built up an extensive network of relations across the globe, ranging from its immediate neighborhood to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and North America. This bibliography provides an overview of the scholarly literature and academic debates that accompanied the evolution of the EU as an international actor. It seeks to examine the topic from historical, theoretical, and conceptual perspectives; provide a broad overview of the various EU policy areas with an external dimension; look at the numerous geographical areas where the EU has relations; and explore some newer avenues for research to better understand the EU as an international actor.
General Overviews
This section includes books that present broad overviews of the EU as an international actor. The books provide good introductions and broad conceptual frameworks as well as opportunities to explore the different actors, policies, and actions that make up the EU’s role in the world. Bretherton and Vogler 2006, Hill and Smith 2005, Keukeleire and MacNaughtan 2008, and Orbie 2008 provide broad and comprehensive overviews of the EU as an international actor, and they include individual chapters on the different policy areas that comprise the EU’s foreign policy as well as making relevant conceptual and theoretical contributions. The website Exploring EU Foreign Policy, which is based on Keukeleire and MacNaughtan 2008, provides a very good list of sources to consult for further information on particular areas of EU external relations. Smith 2002 is an excellent account of how EU foreign policy is made and the kinds of actions the EU has implemented abroad. Smith 2008 stands out among the other works, in that the author analyzes the EU’s international identity by looking explicitly at the output of EU foreign policy and the EU’s ability to reach its goals and objectives. For up-to-date information and news on the EU as an international actor, Global Europe is among the best online sources.
Bretherton, Charlotte, and John Vogler. The European Union as a Global Actor. 2d ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
NNNSolid and comprehensive overview of the EU’s external policies and the extent to which these policies can be seen to constitute the EU as a truly global actor. An absolute must-read for background information on the EU as an international presence in the world.
Exploring EU Foreign Policy. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Institute for International and European Policy.
NNNBased on Keukeleire and McNaughton 2008, this website provides the latest online news related to EU foreign policy and a useful list of various sources on institutional aspects of EU foreign policymaking and EU external relations.
NNNLatest news on EU external relations from various sources. Lists relevant EU foreign-policy-related statements and an updated agenda of EU activities.
Hill, Christopher, and Michael Smith, eds. International Relations and the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
NNNProvides a solid analysis by investigating various EU policy areas with an external dimension. Uses international relations theory to evaluate EU external relations and the EU as a power in the world.
Keukeleire, Stephan, and Jennifer MacNaughtan. The Foreign Policy of the European Union. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
NNNLooks at policy areas with an evident foreign policy dimension (namely, the Common Foreign and Security Policy) and the European Security and Defense Policy, but also analyzes how foreign policy developed in the EU institutions and the influences emanating from the member states. An excellent background read.
Orbie, Jan, ed. Europe’s Global Role: External Policies of the European Union. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2008.
NNNProvides a good historical overview of the different external policies with a “soft” dimension, such as development, energy, enlargement, environment, social policy, and trade. Draws relevant theoretical conclusions as to implications for the EU as an international actor.
Smith, Hazel. European Union Foreign Policy: What It Is and What It Does. London: Pluto, 2002.
NNNUnique in that it was among the first works to claim that the EU does indeed have a foreign policy of its own and that it can be analyzed in a similar manner to that of a nation-state.
Smith, Karen E. European Union Foreign Policy in a Changing World. 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2008.
NNNAnalyzes the nature of the EU’s international identity by focusing on how and why the EU achieves (or fails to achieve) its objectives in five core policy areas; namely, regional cooperation, human rights, the promotion of democracy and good governance, the prevention of violent conflicts, and the fight against international crime.
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Article
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- Alliances
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- Arab-Israeli Wars, 1967-1973, The
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- Audience Costs and the Credibility of Commitments
- Authoritarian Regimes
- Balance of Power Theory
- Bargaining Theory of War
- Battle
- Boko Haram
- Brazilian Foreign Policy, The Politics of
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- Case Study Methods in International Relations
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- Central Europe
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- China and Japan
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- Cold War, The
- Colonialism
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- Conflict Management
- Conflict Management in the Middle East
- Constructivism
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- Coups and Mutinies
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- Critical Theory of International Relations
- Cuban Missile Crisis, The
- Cultural Diplomacy
- Cyber Security
- Cyber Warfare
- Decision-Making, Poliheuristic Theory of
- Demobilization, Post World War I
- Democracies and World Order
- Democracy and Conflict
- Democracy in World Politics
- Deterrence Theory
- Development
- Diasporas
- Digital Diplomacy
- Diplomacy
- Diplomacy, Gender and
- Diplomacy, History of
- Diplomacy in the ASEAN
- Diplomacy, Public
- Disaster Diplomacy
- Diversionary Theory of War
- Drone Warfare
- Eastern Front (World War I)
- Economic Coercion and Sanctions
- Economics, International
- Embedded Liberalism
- Emerging Powers and BRICS
- Emotions
- Empirical Testing of Formal Models
- Energy and International Security
- Environmental Peacebuilding
- Epidemic Diseases and their Effects on History
- Ethics and Morality in International Relations
- Ethnicity in International Relations
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- European Union, International Relations of the
- Experiments
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- Fascism, The Challenge of
- Feminist Methodologies in International Relations
- Feminist Security Studies
- Food Security
- Forecasting in International Relations
- Foreign Aid and Assistance
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Foreign Policy of Non-democratic Regimes
- Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia
- Foreign Policy, Theories of
- French Empire, 20th-Century
- From Club to Network Diplomacy
- Future of NATO
- Game Theory and Interstate Conflict
- Gender and Terrorism
- Genocide
- Genocide, Politicide, and Mass Atrocities Against Civilian...
- Genocides, 20th Century
- Geopolitics and Geostrategy
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- Global Citizenship
- Global Civil Society
- Global Constitutionalism
- Global Environmental Politics
- Global Ethic of Care
- Global Governance
- Global Justice, Western Perspectives
- Globalization
- Governance of the Arctic
- Grand Strategy
- Greater Middle East, The
- Greek Crisis
- Hague Conferences (1899, 1907)
- Hegemony
- Hezbollah
- Hierarchies in International Relations
- History and International Relations
- Human Nature in International Relations
- Human Rights
- Human Rights and Humanitarian Diplomacy
- Human Rights, Feminism and
- Human Rights Law
- Human Security
- Hybrid Warfare
- Ideal Diplomat, The
- Idealism
- Identity and Foreign Policy
- Ideology, Values, and Foreign Policy
- Illicit Trade and Smuggling
- Imperialism
- Indian Foreign Policy
- Indian Perspectives on International Relations, War, and C...
- Indigenous Rights
- Industrialization
- Intelligence
- Intelligence Oversight
- Internal Displacement
- International Conflict Settlements, The Durability of
- International Criminal Court, The
- International Economic Organizations (IMF and World Bank)
- International Health Governance
- International Justice, Theories of
- International Law
- International Monetary Relations, History of
- International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
- International Nongovernmental Organizations
- International Norms for Cultural Preservation and Cooperat...
- International Organizations
- International Relations, Aesthetic Turn in
- International Relations as a Social Science
- International Relations, Practice Turn in
- International Relations, Research Ethics in
- International Relations Theory
- International Security
- International Society
- International Society, Theorizing
- International Support For Nonstate Armed Groups
- Internet Law
- Interstate Cooperation Theory and International Institutio...
- Intervention and Use of Force
- Interviews and Focus Groups
- Iran, Politics and Foreign Policy
- Iraq: Past and Present
- Japanese Foreign Policy
- Just War Theory
- Korean War
- Kurdistan and Kurdish Politics
- Law of the Sea
- Laws of War
- Leadership in International Affairs
- Leadership Personality Characteristics and Foreign Policy
- League of Nations
- Lean Forward and Pull Back Options for US Grand Strategy
- Liberalism
- Marxism
- Mediation and Civil Wars
- Mediation in International Conflicts
- Mediation via International Organizations
- Memory and World Politics
- Mercantilism
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle East, The Contemporary
- Middle Powers and Regional Powers
- Military Science
- Minorities in the Middle East
- Minority Rights
- Morality in Foreign Policy
- Multilateralism (1992–), Return to
- National Liberation, International Law and Wars of
- National Security Act of 1947, The
- Nation-Building
- Nations and Nationalism
- NATO
- NATO, Europe, and Russia: Security Issues and the Border R...
- Natural Resources, Energy Politics, and Environmental Cons...
- Neorealism
- New Multilateralism in the Early 21st Century
- Nigeria
- Nonproliferation and Counterproliferation
- Nonviolent Resistance Datasets
- Normative Aspects of International Peacekeeping
- Normative Power Beyond the Eurocentric Frame
- Nuclear Proliferation
- Peace Education in Post-Conflict Zones
- Peace of Utrecht
- Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict
- Peacekeeping
- Piracy
- Political Demography
- Political Economy of National Security
- Political Extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Political Learning and Socialization
- Political Psychology
- Politics and Islam in Turkey
- Politics and Nationalism in Cyprus
- Politics of Extraction: Theories and New Concepts for Crit...
- Politics of Resilience
- Popuism and Global Politics
- Popular Culture and International Relations
- Post-Civil War State
- Post-Conflict and Transitional Justice
- Post-Conflict Reconciliation in the Middle East and North ...
- Power Transition Theory
- Preventive War and Preemption
- Prisoners, Treatment of
- Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs)
- Process Tracing Methods
- Pro-Government Militias
- Proliferation
- Prospect Theory in International Relations
- Psychoanalysis in Global Politics and International Relati...
- Psychology and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
- Public Opinion and the European Union
- Quantum Social Science
- Race and International Relations
- Realism
- Rebel Governance
- Reconciliation
- Reflexivity and International Relations
- Religion and International Relations
- Religiously Motivated Violence
- Reputation in International Relations
- Responsibility to Protect
- Rising Powers in World Politics
- Role Theory in International Relations
- Russian Foreign Policy
- Russian Revolutions and Civil War, 1917–1921
- Sanctions
- Sanctions in International Law
- Science Diplomacy
- Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), The
- Secrecy and Diplomacy
- Securitization
- Self-Determination
- Shining Path
- Sinophone and Japanese International Relations Theory
- Social Scientific Theories of Imperialism
- Sovereignty
- Soviet Union in World War II
- Space Strategy, Policy, and Power
- Spatial Dependencies and International Mediation
- State Theory in International Relations
- Statehood
- Status in International Relations
- Strategic Air Power
- Strategic and Net Assessments
- Sub-Saharan Africa, Conflict Formations in
- Sustainable Development
- Systems Theory
- Teaching International Relations
- Territorial Disputes
- Terrorism
- Terrorism and Poverty
- Terrorism, Geography of
- Terrorist Financing
- Terrorist Group Strategies
- The Changing Nature of Diplomacy
- The Politics and Diplomacy of Neutrality
- The Politics and Diplomacy of the First World War
- The Queer in/of International Relations
- the Twenty-First Century, Alliance Commitments in
- The Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relation...
- Theories of International Relations, Feminist
- Theory, Chinese International Relations
- Time Series Approaches to International Affairs
- Trade Law
- Transnational Actors
- Transnational Law
- Transnational Social Movements
- Trust and International Relations
- Turkey
- UN Security Council
- United Nations, The
- United States and Asia, The
- Uppsala Conflict Data Program
- US and Africa
- US–UK Special Relationship
- Voluntary International Migration
- War
- War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Western Balkans
- Western Front (World War I)
- Westphalia, Peace of (1648)
- Women and Peacemaking Peacekeeping
- World Economy 1919-1939
- World Polity School
- World War II Diplomacy and Political Relations
- World-System Theory