The volume is the result of a collaborative project carried out by members of the Observatory.
The European Union (EU) is undergoing an identity crisis within the framework of an international order that is in the process of transformation. For decades, the EU has established itself as an international actor operating in a world governed by rules. That world has changed radically: the politics of power and force are eroding the institutional order.
As a defender of a multilateral order showing signs of exhaustion and of values it considers universal but which others openly challenge, the EU finds itself at a crossroads. Is the EU truly prepared for this new phase? Do all member states view the challenge in the same way, or are some more willing to play by the ‘new rules of the game’? The chapters in this book address these and other fundamental questions for understanding the EU as an international actor within an evolutionary and systematic framework. The book offers analytical tools (theoretical frameworks) and applied studies on the fundamental aspects of the EU’s external action: institutions, instruments, policies and relations with third states and regional blocs.