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EU foreign policy

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 and its subsequent implementation, the European Union has gradually assembled the constituent elements of a sui generis 'foreign policy', bringing together various competencies, instruments and resources that were hitherto spread across different institutions and bodies. Although the process is still on-going and progress is, in parts, uneven, certain traits of a more coherent common approach to foreign policy-making are now evident. In the Balkans, the Horn of Africa (both offshore and onshore), the Sahel, or the Middle East, joint and combined forms of external action - including diplomacy, enlargement, CSDP and development activities - are now producing more effective and lasting results.

Analysing the specific actors, instruments, policies, and strategies at the disposal of the Union and assessing their scope and outreach is also a way to illustrate what the EU does in the world - something which is not always known or appreciated by those who directly benefit from its external action, or indeed by European citizens at large. Monitoring performance, in turn, also contributes to improving it, in a constructive manner and on the basis of factual evidence.

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    01April 2005

    Since the EU has assumed responsibility for military operations, questions of democratic legitimacy have become more prominent in European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Although democracy has been a contested concept, four ‘pillars’ can be distinguished that contribute to a democratically legitimate ESDP. This Occasional Paper analyses each of these pillars.

  • 21March 2005

    The EUISS organised a seminar to analyse the contribution that the European Union and its member states can make to the reform of the United Nations, in particular regarding cooperation on peacekeeping missions and the reinforcement of the UN Security Council.

  • 19February 2005

    On the eve of what will hopefully be a new start to trans-Atlantic relations, it may be worth recalling some of the European Union's achievements in helping to shape a better and more secure international order. Not just words and nice declarations, but facts and a real ability to deliver.

  • 06February 2005

    Para explicar la creciente diferencia entre Estados Unidos y Europa, Robert Kagan, en su libro Poder y debilidad, sugiere que los norteamericanos pueden equipararse a Marte, el dios de la guerra, mientras que los europeos recuerdan a Venus. Kagan no se detiene ahí, pues afirma también que en el mundo peligroso de hoy es mejor ser Marte que Venus, y aplicar la violencia sin vacilación contra dictadores y Estados canallas.

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    01February 2005
    By

    This fifth volume of Core Documents lists the European Union’s decisions and actions in the field of security and defence taken during 2004. Texts concerning ESDP are collected in the first part of this volume. The second part of this work is devoted solely to the Constitutional Treaty.

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    01December 2004

    The discussion on European-Turkish relations is in many cases underpinned with arbitrary historical references and questionable cultural-religious argumentations. These positions are genuinely challenged by the view that Europe is not and should not become a Christian Club, but a zone of cultural and religious diversity.

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    01December 2004

    Following the events of 11 September 2001, Poland emerged as one of the United States’s key allies, arguably its protégé, in Central and Eastern Europe. The close affinity of interests on security matters between the United States and Poland became particularly apparent in Iraq, where Warsaw proved to be a strong and highly vocal supporter of Washington.

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    01December 2004

    L'intervention militaire en Afghanistan d'octobre 2001 a été déterminée uniquement par les attentats du 11 septembre. L'Etat ne peut se reconstruire qu'à partir de la culture politique afghane : il faut pour cela inscrire les réformes dans un cadre idéologiquement légitime (nationalisme, islam), tout en s'adaptant à l'anthropologie politique de l'Afghanistan, où notables et groupes de solidarité locaux jouent un rôle plus important que les grandes tribus ou les ethnies.

  • 14November 2004

    The Institute organised a brainstorming session among Europeans experts on the US elections and their consequences for Europe. First examining the evolution of American society and policies, then analysing the European foreign policies vis-à-vis the United States.

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    08November 2004

    The European Security Strategy identifies ‘state failure’ as one of the ‘key threats’ confronting Europe. This is one point of convergence with the 2002 US National Security Strategy. However, implicitly distancing itself from the US, the European Security Strategy recognises that ‘none of the new threats is purely military; nor can [they] be tackled by purely military means.’

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