Pubblicazioni dell'UE

Research*eu

Issue 82, May 2019

Metadati delle pubblicazioni

Special feature: defining Europe’s role in a complex international order. In this month’s special feature, we highlight eight EU-funded projects that have been working hard to, in one way or another, address the following question: What positive and influential role can the EU have in today’s world order (and especially in such turbulent times) with the tools currently at its disposal? Whilst foreign policy remains a closely-guarded competence of the EU Member States, the Union has increasingly built up its external policy instruments since the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. Whilst... many traditional adherents to realpolitik would argue that since the EU is not a nation-state then it can’t feasibly act as a true international influencer due to its lack of ‘hard’ power. However, as our eight projects highlight, the EU does have a valuable role to play on the world stage, such as in the spheres of peacekeeping, conflict prevention and ‘soft’ power. But our projects also point out more than once that the EU could – and should – be doing more to bolster its international position, especially in its bilateral relations with several crucial countries and regions, such as Turkey, Russia, the Middle East and the Eastern Partnership countries.