This compulsory course tackles the following key questions: why have EU member states decided to cooperate on matters of foreign and security policy?; how does European foreign policy cooperation work?; and what impact does it have within and beyond the EU’s borders? The course will seek to establish a critical appreciation of current theoretical debates about European foreign policy cooperation and the EU as an international power; the problem of forging consensus among 27 member states in a more contested world; and challenges relating to the projection of the EU’s interests and values beyond its borders. After examining its origins and nature, the course will consider the main scholarly explanations of EU foreign policy cooperation. It will then investigate who the key actors are and how they interact during the decision-making process. The second part of the course will provide an empirically informed understanding of the increasing role of the EU as a foreign policy actor in different areas, including a) its impact on national foreign and security policies (via Europeanisation); b) the EU’s role in its neighbourhood (with a focus on democracy promotion); c) the emergence of a European strategic culture; and d) the role of the CSDP in dealing with international conflicts and crises.
Professor: Ana E. JUNCOS