Review: Understanding European Foreign Policy
| Author | John B. Sutcliffe |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600323 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
the
heavyweights
(France,
Britain,
Germany), the
middle
powers,
and
the
neutral
states
(Sweden,
Finland,
Austria,
Denmark,
Ireland).
This
last
section
is
a
fascinating
example
of
EU
membership
'convergence'
or
'Europeanizing'
effect
on
members'
policies.
Those
states
are
redefin-
ing
their
status
to
work
more
closely
with
EU
members who
are
also
members
of
NATO
and
to
partake in
EU-endorsed
peacekeeping
and
cri-
sis-management
exercises.
This trend
of
adapting
political
behaviour
for
EU
goals
occurs
in
all
member
states
but
to
different
degrees,
depending on
the
issue
area.
The
sections
titled
'with
or
without
the
EU?'
explore policy
directions
made
possible
or
pursued
specifically
through
the
EU
versus
bilateral
relations
with
non-European
countries,
continuing
'special
relations'
(for example
Britain-United
States),
and
untouchable
issues
such
as
nuclear
arsenals.
This
is
the
first
comparative
study
of
European
foreign
policies
since
1978.
The
editors
boldly
question
definitions and
theories and
acknowledge
the
increasing
difficulty
of
foreign
policy
analysis
as
a
result
of
globalization and
policy linkage.
This
work
persuasively
argues
the
need
for an
inclusive
or
broader
understanding
of
the
unique
pressures
and
challenges
faced
by
Europeans
and
the
EU
in
for-
eign
policy
making.
It
blends
European
politics
with
EU
studies
and
is
excellent
for university seminars,
reference,
and
as
preparation
for
stu-
dent
policy-making simulations.
Rutha
Astravas/graduate
student,
University
of
Oxford
UNDERSTANDING
EUROPEAN
FOREIGN POLICY
Brian
White
New
York
and
Basingstoke:
Palgrave,
2001,
xi,
196
pp,
US$65.00
cloth
(ISBN
0-333-94988-9),
Us$22.95
paper
(ISBN
0-333-94989-7).
T
he
capacity
of
European
states
to
act
in
foreign
affairs,
combined
with
their
varied
efforts
to
operate
in
concert
in
foreign
affairs,
have
been
perennial
issues
of
post-1945 European
politics.
That
they
remain
important
is
reflected
in
the
on-going
developments
in
the
for-
mer
Yugoslavia
and
in the
fact
that
foreign
policy
issues
have
been
cen-
tral
components
of
the
last
two
European
Union
treaty negotiations.
White's
book
is,
therefore,
a
timely
study
of
an
important
issue.
It
pro-
vides
an
accessible
introduction
to
the
complexities
of
foreign
policy
making
in
Europe
and
charts
a
path through
the
terminology
used,
the
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL Summer
2001
549
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