European Foreign Policy

Public lecture by Christopher BICKERTON, PSIA Visiting International Faculty Assistant Professor, International Relations, University of Amsterdam.

With Zaki LAIDI, Director of Research and Professor at Sciences Po.

In this book launch and discussion of European Foreign Policy: from Effectiveness to Functionality, Christopher Bickerton, PSIA Visiting International Professor for the World Politics course, and Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Amsterdam, will investigate the influence of a shift from nation-states to member states in Europe on the EU’s role in international affairs. In his new book, European Foreign Policy: from Effectiveness to Functionality, released this month by Palgrave Macmillian, Bickerton asserts that the study of EU foreign policy has for a long time been haunted by Henry Kissinger’s famous quip, “what number do I call if I want to get through to Europe?” He indicates that this has prompted scholars to inquire into the effectiveness of the EU as an international actor. Arguing that the focus on effectiveness has pushed EU studies too far into the world of policy planning, Bickerton examines EU foreign policy from the perspective of functionality. He asks what function foreign policy co-operation plays in the wider European integration process. He concludes that EU foreign policy serves as a way of managing Europe’s retreat from power politics, is the site for inter-institutional struggles between the Council, Commission and Parliament within the EU, and increasingly provides the EU with a new identity at a time when the traditional narratives of European integration are no longer so convincing for European citizens. In sum, Bickerton asserts that far from being the poor cousin of other policy areas, foreign policy is increasingly the terrain upon which the future of the EU is being decided.

Through lectures by highly distinguished guests on pressing global issues, PSIA is offering a vibrant platform for public debate in international affairs.