Home Uncategory เขียนเมื่อวันที่ 30 กันยายน 2011 Of Regional Complexes and Global Powers: The Power Capacity of the EU In recent years, there has been much debate as to whether the European Union constitutes a global power. For the most part, the elusiveness of a coherent and cogent Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) has cast much doubt as to whether the EU can be considered a credible actor in international affairs, let alone one which is capable of projecting its power and influence on a global level. These criticisms of EU foreign policy, or the lack thereof, have extended across a plethora of fronts. On one level, these criticisms have centred on pragmatic concerns, such as the personal attributes of relevant policymakers, as reflected in the questions raised about Catherine Ashton’s lack of diplomatic experience prior to her appointment as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. [1] On another level, however, the criticisms of the EU’s foreign policy capacity have been existential in nature, with the discussion centering on whether the EU even possesses the legitimacy to wield power and influence on the international stage on behalf of the 27 Member States. Speaking to an audience in Copenhagen in 2002, then High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana stated that “…a Union of our size, with our interests, history and values, has an obligation to assume its share of responsibilities… The question, therefore, is not whether we play a global role, but how we play that role.” [2] This expression of political will, while forming a speech act intended to reinforce a socially constructed belief among epistemic communities and the wider populace of the Member States that an active EU on a foreign policy level is essential, also sets out a kind of deontological imperative. This imperative responds in some respects to the existential criticisms being levelled against the role of the EU as a global power. However, a deeper consideration of these philosophical disputes would be extraneous to traditional international relations research and so here we will discuss only the pragmatic concerns with regard to EU foreign policy. To examine this pragmatic aspect to its fullest extent, the potential power capacity of the EU should form the basis for the initial consideration. It has been noted that the EU has a tremendous degree of power in the socioeconomic sphere, with an annual Gross Domestic Product of considerable levels. “Europe can thus focus on its specific strength as a civil power in order to promote a ‘stability transfer’ as a preventive security policy.” [3] What is integral to this outlook on international security is that this civil power, this philosophical imperative to facilitate stability transfers to seemingly unstable states, is that “…it represents the idea of a comprehensive multi-policy concept, an idea based on the premise that stability can be projected…” [4] From this, one could determine that the EU displays at least the rudiments of a foreign policy, albeit one which takes a different approach than what might be utilized by other actors in the international system widely regarded as global powers, such as the United States of America, seeking to employ civil power rather than military power to foster stability. This civil power has, in addition, manifested itself in unorthodox aspects but to neglect these simply on the basis that this influence is exerted through non-traditional means would be to neglect a significant domain of international politics at this early stage of the 21 st century. Written by Paul Pryce on September 27, 2011 อ่านเพิ่มเติม : http://www.e-ir.info/?p=14356