Europe as a Stronger Global Actor : Challenges and Strategic Responses

270 Pages·2017·1.94 MB·English

by  Simon Duke (auth.)

Europe as a Stronger
Global Actor
Challenges and Strategic Responses
Simon Duke
E U R O P E A N
A D M I N I S T R AT I V E
G OV E R NA N C E S E R I E S
European Administrative Governance
Series Editors
Thomas   Christiansen
Maastricht University
The Netherlands
Sophie   Vanhoonacker
Maastricht University
The Netherlands
‘This timely book provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic challenges
the European Union must confront if it is to become a more effective inter-
national and regional actor in the post-Cold War world. This extremely rich
study includes original insight into the evolution of European Union foreign
policy as it seeks to navigate the changing nature of Euro-Atlantic and Euro-
Asia relations and manage the aftermath of the Arab Spring moment across
the Mediterranean area. An essential read for policy makers, academics, stu-
dents and anyone interested in achieving a better understanding of the pros-
pects for a more dynamic European Union in contemporary global affairs.’
– Stephen Calleya, Professor Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies
and Director, Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, University of
Malta
Aim of the Series
The series maps the range of disciplines addressing the study of European public
administration. In particular, contributions to the series will engage with the
role and nature of the evolving bureaucratic processes of the European Union,
including the study of the EU’s civil service, of organization aspects of indi-
vidual institutions such as the European Commission, the Council of Ministers,
the External Action Service, the European Parliament, the European Court and
the European Central Bank and of inter-institutional relations among these and
other actors. The series also welcomes contributions on the growing role of
EU agencies, networks of technical experts and national offi cials, and of the
administrative dimension of multilevel governance including international
organizations. Of particular interest in this respect will be the emergence of a
European diplomatic service and the management of the EU’s expanding com-
mercial, foreign, development, security and defence policies, as well as the role
of institutions in a range of other policy areas of the Union. Beyond this strong
focus of EU administrative governance, the series will also include texts on the
development and practice of administrative governance within European states.
This may include contributions to the administrative history of Europe, which
is not just about rules and regulations governing bureaucracies, or about formal
criteria for measuring the growth of bureaucracies, but rather about the con-
crete workings of public administration, both in its executive functions as in its
involvement in policy-m aking. Furthermore the series will include studies on the
interaction between the national and European level, with particular attention
for the impact of the EU on domestic administrative systems.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14977
Simon   Duke
Europe as a Stronger
Global Actor
Challenges and Strategic Responses
Simon   Duke
Maastricht University
The Netherlands
European Administrative Governance
ISBN 978-1-349-94944-1 ISBN 978-1-349-94945-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-349-94945-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956878
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A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Europe as a Stronger Global Actor had a long gestation period, although
it was written over a relatively short period of time. During much of this
time I was in the extremely fortunate position of working on a series of
contracts that led to frequent contact with the European External Action
Service (EEAS) through my employer the European Institute of Public
Administration. In this capacity I worked regularly with an extremely tal-
ented group of academics and think tankers from whom I learnt much.
They include Chris Alden, Stefan Åstrom, Rosa Balfour, Jozef Batora,
Federica Bicci, Steven Blockmans, Mariana Carpes, Christopher Dent,
Gustaaf Geeraerts, Hisham Hellyer, Joost Hiltermann, Bert Hoffmann,
Jonathan Holsag, Shada Islam, Hubertus Jahn, Kriti Kapila, Joachim
Koops, Sandra Levenex, Bobo Lo, Jing Men, Alexander Mattelaer, Arkady
Moshes, Jørgen Nielsen, Gergana Noutcheva, Andrew Sherriff, Therese
Sjömander Magnusson, Farzana Shaikh, Ronald Skeldon, David Spence,
Hans Thogren, Dimitri Trenin, Louise van Schaik, Ramses Wessel,
Catherine Woollard, Jan Wouters and Suzanne Yang. My thanks to all of
them for stimulating my interest and curiosity during our encounters in
Brussels.
I am also extremely fortunate to have encountered academic colleagues
in a variety of projects who have helped me refi ne my ideas but also to
commit them to paper. Sven Biscop, Paul James Cardwell, Caterina Carta,
Thomas Christiansen, Edith Drieskens, Christophe Hillion, Knud Erik
Jørgensen, Sonia Lucarelli, Jan Melissen, Antonio Missiroli, Petar Petrov,
Sophie Vanhoonacker, Reuben Wong and Lay Hwee Yeo deserve particu-
lar mention for allowing me to explore some of the themes in this book
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
in various seminars and projects under their aegis, or as co-authors. Nick
Sobecki was also an enthusiastic and dedicated student assistant in the
early days of this project and I thank him for his forbearance.
I also owe an equal debt of gratitude to the many offi cials in the EEAS
(some even going back to the pre-EEAS times) who have entered into
debate and discussion so readily. There are too many to mention, but I
have tremendous admiration for those offi cials with whom I have the plea-
sure of working. I have tried out many of the ideas in this book in various
fora and discussions and appreciate the (usually) gentle resistance to some
themes, but also the encouragement to pursue others. Most have been
only too willing to share their observations and, in many cases, consider-
able experience in different parts of the world.
This book was written almost entirely in time that I stole from my
family, to whom I owe the biggest debt of gratitude. In particular, my
wife, Roberta, who cast her critical eye over the manuscript, in spite of
her many other professional and personal obligations. I am also tremen-
dously indebted to the anonymous reviewer for encouragement and for
seeing virtue in the project, notwithstanding the many imperfections of
the original manuscript. I hope that you will be able to see that your many
suggestions, from major to minor, are refl ected in this volume and that
your initial confi dence was not misplaced. I also thank Jemima Warren at
Palgrave Macmillan for her polite help and prompt assistance. Finally, I
also owe gratitude to Maastricht University, where I am a Senior Research
Fellow, for access to their library resources without which this book could
not have been written.
One of the challenges of writing this volume was to reach a balance that
refl ects, on the one hand, the concerns and preoccupations of the policy
community and, on the other, the debates of my academic colleagues. I
erred on the side of the former in an attempt to say something of relevance
at a time of particular diffi culty for not only the EU but many of its global
partners. Notwithstanding the help and assistance I have received to this
end, any errors and imperfections remain mine alone.
Honthem, March 2016
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 The EU’s Strategic Unconsciousness and 
Normative Hubris 13
3 Existential Doubts and Strategic Dilemmas 35
4 In Search of Strategy 5 9
5 The Return of Geopolitics and Relations to the East 75
6 Geopolitics in the Post–Arab Spring 1 03
7 Transatlantic Relations and Europe’s
Missing Asia Pivot 123
8 Europe’s Harder Edges: Security and Defence 1 55
9 Putting Effectiveness into Multilateralism 185
vii
viii CONTENTS
10 Strategy, Implementation and Means 2 07
11 Reconceptualizing the World
and the Liberal Delusion 2 31
Bibliography 249
Index 251
L A
IST OF CRONYMS
AIIB Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
ARF A SEAN Regional Forum
ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations
ASEM A sia-Europe Meeting
BRICS B razil Russia India China South Africa
CFSP C ommon Foreign and Security Policy
CSDP Common Security and Defence Policy
DCFTA D eep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement
DSACEUR Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO)
DDR D isarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
EBRD E uropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development
EDA European Defence Agency
EDTIB E uropean Defence Technological and Industrial Base
EEAS European External Action Service
EEC European Economic Community
EEU Eurasian Economic Union
ENP European Neighbourhood Policy
EPSC European Political Strategy Centre
ESA E uropean Satellite Agency
EU European Union
FTA Free Trade Area
FTAAP F ree Trade Area of the Asia Pacifi c
G-3 China, European Union and United States (informal)
G-7 Group of Seven (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and
USA)
G-8 As G-7 plus Russia
G-20 G roup of 20 (major economies)
ix