TITLE:
The Eu as a Global Actor Addressing the Challenge of Contested States
AUTHORS:
Eleni Chytopoulou
KEYWORDS:
EU Actorness, Contested States, EU Policies & Policy Tools
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Political Science,
Vol.12 No.3,
May
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: The E.U.’s
role as an international player began to upgrade alongside the effort to
coordinate its external action by adopting a common foreign and security policy
(CFSP). As a result, the E.U. has developed a wide range of activities that
extended from “the traditional field of external trade to democracy promotion
and cooperation in various policy areas falling under its legislative
competence” (Lavenex & Schmimmelfenning, 2009: p. 791). After the end of the Cold War, the
European Union addressed the challenges arising from the emergence of
post-conflict states, a considerable number of which were in its neighborhood.
Peacebuilding and state-building interventions were necessary for the
post-conflict transition and socioeconomic rehabilitation of these fragile
states with contested sovereignty. The EU supported countries with contested
statehood both in consolidating peace and building a modern state with political and
economic means. Moreover, the EU has adjusted its interventions to the realities and
conditions prevailing in each country. Since the impact of the E.U.’s
integrated intervention on contested states remains a research concern, the
present dissertation aims to address whether the E.U., as a global power, has
the mechanisms and appropriate political skills to face up to the challenges
presented in countries with contested statehood.