European Worldviews: Ideas and the European Union in World Politics

dc.contributor.authorVENNESSON, Pascal
dc.date.accessioned2007-03-21T11:12:07Z
dc.date.available2007-03-21T11:12:07Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.description.abstractIn international politics, what do the leaders of the European Union (EU) want? How do they understand international relations and how do they see the EU in world politics? The goal of this paper is to provide an introduction to the collective research on ‘European Worldviews’. This research applies first-image thinking, in particular Nathan Leites’ operational code analysis, to five key figures and office holders of the European Union: Javier Solana, Robert Cooper, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Peter Mandelson and Joseph Borg. We explore these EU officials’ worldviews, the set of ideas and values about history and politics which shape their political strategies and their action. First, the paper puts the analysis of European worldviews in a wider theoretical context: the revival of idea-based explanation in International Relations and the rise of realist theories of foreign policy taking policymakers’ strategic assessments and problem-solving styles seriously. Second, the paper presents the operational code approach, and explain its added value to analyze European worldviews. Third, it focuses on the relations between worldviews and the EU in world politics. Finally, this paper argues that European worldviews matter because they are deeply embedded in political action and provide identity and power to the EU in world politics. They interact with the individual characteristics of policy-makers, with the institutional context of their action, and with the international environment in which they act. The conclusion spells out a research agenda and suggests some policy implications.en
dc.format.extent287779 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.issn1028-3625
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/6749
dc.language.isoenen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesEUI RSCASen
dc.relation.ispartofseries2007/07en
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subjectEuropean Unionen
dc.subjectFirst imageen
dc.subjectForeign policyen
dc.subjectIdeasen
dc.subjectLeites (Nathan)en
dc.subjectOperational codeen
dc.subjectStrategyen
dc.subjectWorldviewsen
dc.titleEuropean Worldviews: Ideas and the European Union in World Politicsen
dc.typeWorking Paperen
dspace.entity.typePublication
eui.subscribe.skiptrue
person.identifier.other29964
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationae5fef28-61c1-46f5-b3fd-00fea2916ad3
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryae5fef28-61c1-46f5-b3fd-00fea2916ad3
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