Has the liberal internationalist conception of the EU’s foreign policy made it incapable of acting in international conflicts?

Durnik, Mitja (author)

Notions of the power associated with the European Union’s foreign policy and its role in international relations are mostly liberal in origin. This explains the EU’s special role in the Cold War era and that it has since emerged more as a moral, ethical and normative power. The EU’s lack of military capability has probably been the main cause that prevents it from acting as a great or superpower. The distinction between materialistic and immaterial elements of power has been a crucial point of contention between realists and liberal thinkers. In international relations, we are also witnessing the trend of the EU increasingly using the geopolitical approach (such as in the Ukrainian crisis) besides the normative one. In the article, different concepts of EU foreign policy regarding power in the light of realism and liberalism are compared where, alongside the descriptive method, a SWOT analysis is performed.

• Language: English
• Keywords: realism, political realism, rusko-ukrajinski konflikt, political power, zunanja politika, liberal internationalist concept, mednarodni konflikti
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FU - Faculty of Administration; FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 30.05.2023
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 5-23, 177
• Numbering: Letn. 60, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-146708
• UDC: [327:061.1EU]:327.5
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• DOI: 10.51936/tip.60.1.5
• COBISS.SI-ID: 154027523
• Publication date in RUL: 08.06.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Ali je koncept liberalnega internacionalizma v zunanji politiki EU onemogočil njeno delovanje v mednarodnih konfliktih?

Abstract

Ideje o moči v zunanji politiki Evropske unije in njeni vlogi v mednarodnih odnosih so bile po svojem izvoru pretežno liberalne. Razlog za to je bil v tem, da je imela EU v času hladne vojne posebno vlogo, po njej pa se je pojavljala bolj kot moralna, etična in normativna sila. Glavni razlog, da bi delovala kot velika sila ali velesila, je bil verjetno pomanjkanje vojaških zmogljivosti. Razlika med materialističnimi in nematerialnimi elementi moči je bila ključna točka spora med realisti in liberalnimi misleci. V mednarodnih odnosih (to je evidentno tudi v primeru ukrajinske krize) smo vedno bolj priča tudi trendu, da EU uporablja tudi geopolitični pristop, poleg normativnega. V članku smo primerjali različne koncepte zunanje politike EU glede moči v luči realizma in liberalizma, pri čemer smo poleg deskriptivne metode uporabili tudi SWOT-analizo.

• Keywords: realizem, politična moč, politični koncepti, liberalini internacionalizem