Normative Empire Europe: The European Union, its Borderlands, and the ‘Arab Spring’

Abstract

Focusing on the EU's relations with its periphery, this paper takes issue both with persistent 'normative' conceptions of the EU's international role in the European Studies literature and with the constructivist-rationalist divide in IR theory. The conceptualization of the EU -a vast, composite and ever-expanding entity with 'fuzzy' borders -as an empire of sorts bridges the theoretical divide and offers a powerful explanation of the EU's behaviour vis-à-vis its vicinity. Through the transfer of rules and practices beyond its borders, the EU is indeed engaged in 'normative' policies, which however primarily serve the security and economic interests of the EU and its Member States. Thus, the EU's (allegedly) norm-based behaviour is in itself a utility-maximizing strategy, which also serves the construction of a normative identity. The EU's response to the Arab uprisings serves to illustrate the argument, with the concept of 'empire' resolving the puzzle of seemingly inconsistent EU policies.

Stopping boats, saving lives, securing subjects: Humanitarian borders in Europe and Australia

“…States and authoritarian third states -Europe has pursued the de facto transfer of governance and risk to authorities with poor human rights records (Bialasiewicz 2011(Bialasiewicz , 2012Cassarino et al 2010;Del Sarto 2015b;Paoletti 2010;Triandafyllidou 2013).…”

From Containment to Realpolitik and Back Again: A Realist Constructivist Analysis of Turkey–EU Relations and the Migration Issue

“…argued, in , that the relationship between interests and identity in EU policy should be a matter of empirical study on a case by case basis. More recently, de Sarto () has approached this material from another dimension to argue that liberal norm‐based behaviour is itself a ‘a utility‐maximizing strategy', thereby blurring the liberal/realist distinction further. What is becoming clear is that it should not be seen as a binary choice but instead as a spectrum along which movement can take place.…”

Normative Power Europe? The EU's Embrace of the Responsibility to Protect in a Transitional International Order

“…In turn, NPE is challenged by a changing international order and a global push back against liberal internationalism. Nevertheless, NPE continues to attract considerable attention as a concept, with scholars exploring its theoretical value as well as applying itoften criticallyto the EU's international engagement in various policy areas (Del Sarto 2016;Gordon and Pardo 2015;Hansen and Marsh 2015;Manners 2015;Veebel and Markus, 2018).…”