The EU’s international role in a world of turmoil
This lecture discusses the place of the European Union in the 21st century against the background of the changing reality of regional and global politics. What is the role of the EU and its member states, now that we left the ‘mad’ 20th century behind? Is Europe a continent in decline or has integration within the EU revitalised and imbued it with the potential of being a new global player in a multipolar world without a dominant power? The crises in Ukraine and Syria illustrate that it is not an option to merely sit on the side-lines, while at the same time demonstrating the high complexity of the challenges that need to be faced.
By putting the EU’s role in a broader regional and international context and by analysing some of the key regional and global responses that have been formulated, this lecture discusses how in recent years the EU has been trying to redefine its international role.
Biography
Sophie Vanhoonacker is Professor in European Administrative Governance, holds a Jean Monnet Chair at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), and is head of the Politics Department at Maastricht University. As from January 2016 she will also serve as the dean of FASoS. Her main field of research is in the area of European Foreign Policy with a special focus on processes of institutionalization. Recent publications have dealt with the emerging EU diplomatic system and the role of bureaucracies in the European foreign policy process. Beside this she also supervises several PhD students and co-directs an Initial Training Marie Curie Research Network (2010-13) that investigates EU inter- and intra-institutional cooperation. She holds a PhD from Leiden University (1999). She studied history (Catholic Universtiy of Leuven, 1984), European Studies (College of Europe, Bruges, 1985) and International Relations (Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1989).
