The European Union's Roles in International Politics

This new volume develops a conceptual framework for considering and evaluating the roles played by the EU in international politics, drawing upon the literatures of role analysis, international relations and European integration. It pays particular attention to five aspects of role analysis: role conceptions, origins of roles, role institutionalization, role performance and role impact. These form themes running through the volume and are dealt with in individual contributions as appropriate. It also presents fresh applications and empirical case studies that support the conceptual framework and demonstrate the uses of role analysis in relation to the EU and its international activities, and its capacity to inform investigation from different perspectives and standpoints. By taking this approach and by providing both conceptual and empirical argument, this book delivers an innovative perspective on the analysis of the European Union as an international actor, and on the ways in which EU actions are formed and have impact. It also establishes a research agenda based on rigorous development of the framework for role analysis, and demonstrates the ways in which this agenda might be furthered.

Ole Elgström is Professor of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden. Michael Smith is Professor of European Politics and Jean Monnet Chair in the Department of Politics, International Relations and European Studies at Loughborough University.

Introduction Ole Elgström and Michael Smith 1. Role Theory and European Foreign Policy: A Framework of Analysis Lisbeth Aggestam 2. A Multilateralist Role for the EU? Knud Erik Jörgensen 3. Interpreted Values: A Normative Reading of EU Role Conceptions and Performance Sonia Lucarelli 4. The Symbolic Manifestations of the EU's Normative Role in World Politics Ian Manners 5. Values or Rights? Alternative Conceptions of the EU's 'Normative' Role Helene Sjursen 6. Muscles from Brussels: The Demise of Civilian Power Europe? Richard Whitman 7. The EU's Role as a Promoter of Human Rights and Democracy: Enlargement Policy Practice and Role Formation Ulrich Sedelmeier 8. The Constraints to EU Action as a 'Norm Exporter' in the Mediterranean Stefania Panebianco 9. The Limits of Proactive Cosmoplitanism: The EU and Burma, Cuba and Zimbabwe Karen E. Smith 10. Pro-Active Policy Entrepreneur or Risk Minimizer? A Principal-Agent Interpretation of the EU's Role in the WTO Bart Kerremans 11. Punching Its Weight? The EU's Use of WTO Dispute Resolution Alasdair R. Young 12. Institutions, Ideas and a Leadership Gap: The EU's Role in Multilateral Competition Policy Chad Damro 13. The EU's Roles in Public Health: The Interdependence of Roles within a Saturated Space of International Organizations Sebastien Guigner. Conclusion Ole Elgström and Michael Smith