The European Union's Superpower Revisited

• Published in: Brazilian Political Science Review Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 1 - 12
• Main Author: Henriques, Anna Beatriz Leite
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Rio de Janeiro Associacao Brasileira de Ciencia Politica 01.01.2019; Brazilian Political Science Association
• Subjects: Accountability; Coherence; Cold War; Collective action; Common Foreign and Security Policy; Cooperation; Europeanization; Graduate students; International relations; Policy making; Political science; Power; Superpowers; Supranationalism; Europe
• ISSN: 1981-3821; 1981-3821
• DOI: 10.1590/1981-3821201900010008

According to Hill, Smith and Vanhoonacker (2017), the small group of experts on the EU's external relations did not traditionally use to reach out to wider fields of knowledge, but to focus rather on the institutions of European foreign policymaking and/or the relevance of external relations regarding the integration process. In this sense, the collection of articles widens the agent-centered perspective of the 'European Union as a global player' to a more systemic view, interested in 'international relations and the EU'. Because of its advanced theoretical discussions and refined empirical material, this is a research-led text, intended for researchers and postgraduate students with previous knowledge about the inner workings of the Union and its intricacies. The research focuses on the patterns of relationships and interactions in which Europe has been active, mainly within the continent itself, but also in its former colonies in Africa, Asia, and throughout the Atlantic. [...]it also analyzes the centers of lingering tensions regarding European foreign engagement, elements that involve its commitment to processes of cooperation and international conflict amongst collective and national European positions. Andreatta and Zambernardi (2017) also highlight two challenges to the EU's international coherence, in case it wishes to consolidate itself as a power in international relations: 01. the international environment, which has radically changed since the end of the Cold War; and 02. the Union's absence of democratic accountability.