Episodes
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Can leadership within the European Commission shape the EU's response to global crises?
In Episode 16, The External explores the decisive leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, during the first ten weeks of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It features the insights from the research of Professor Elena Baracani (University of Bologna) on how von der Leyen's strategic framing and principled ideas shaped the European Union's unified and swift response to the crisis, helping to position the EU as a more assertive global actor.
Read the article (open access): ElenaBaracani (2024) 'Ideational agenda-setting leadership: President von der Leyenand the EU response to the invasion of Ukraine'. Western European Politics, 54(3-4): 1451-1474
Summary
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The European Parliament has the ability to play a key role in shaping the European Union's international agreements. But how exactly does it get involved in these complex negotiations? Researcher Marine Bardou from the University of Louvain has conducted a comprehensive study to answer this question, revealing surprising patterns in the Parliament's activities.
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Missing episodes?
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Is Europe effectively leveraging Chinese investments to enhance its strategic interests within the liberal international order?
In Episode 14, The External discusses the political intricacies of Chinese investments in Europe with JappeEckhardt, co-editor of RisingPower, Limited Influence: The Politics of Chinese Investments in Europe and theLiberal International Order. The interview explores the absence of an overall Chinese external investment strategy and how Europe navigates these investments, assessing whether they represent strategic opportunities or challenges to European policies and positions within the global order. The book is co-edited with Indrajit Roy, Dimitrios Stroikos, and Simona Davidescu.
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Is EU trade policy primarily a market tool or ageopolitical instrument?
In Episode 13, we delve into the complex interplay between market objectives and geopolitical strategies in EU trade policy, guided by research from Dr. Andrea Christou and Professor Chad Damro at the University of Edinburgh. Their study, featured in the Journal of Common Market Studies, investigates the extent to which the EU's Directorate General for Trade maintains its market-focused approach amidst increasing geopolitical pressures.
Read the article (open access): AndreaChristou and Chad Damro. Frames and Issue Linkage: EU Trade Policy in theGeoeconomic Turn. Journal of Common Market Studies 62(4): 1080-1096
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Is there a ‘Brussels effect’ throughinternational investment dynamics? In Episode 12, The External provides insightsfrom a recent article in Labour - Review of Labour Economics and IndustrialRelations by Dr Patrick Wagner (University of Konstanz) and Professor DamianRaess (Catholic University of Lille) which investigates whether Braziliandirect investment in Europe leads to improved working conditions back inBrazil.
Read the article (open access): Patrick Wagnerand Damian Raess. South to north investment linkages and decent work in Brazil. Labour -Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations 37(1): 122-159.
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Are identity politics preventing the upgrading of supranational institutions as part of the EU’s response to the War in Ukraine?In Episode 11, The External provides an overview of a recent article in Journal of Common Market Studies by Professor Tanja Börzel (Freie Universität Berlin) considering the reasons why member states have upgraded common interests in supporting Ukraine without granting the EU additional supranational power.
Read the article (open access): Tanja A. Börzel,European Integration and the War in Ukraine: Just Another Crisis? Journal of Common Market Studies 61(S1):14-30.
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International organizations change over time, expanding into new areas and abandoning original programmes of work. But are these changes always at the behest of member states?
In Episode 10, The External brings in Dr. Kseniya Oksamytna (City, University of London) to discuss the key findings of her new book Advocacy and Change in International Organizations: Communication, Protection, and Reconstruction in UN Peacekeeping (Oxford University Press 2023), and especially the role of advocacy as a source of change.
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In a changing geopolitical landscape, the EU and its member states have introduced novel mechanisms for screening foreign direct investment for national security risks.
In Episode 9, The External provides an overview of a recent article in Global Policy by Professor Sarah Bauerle Danzman (Indiana University) and Professor Sophie Meunier (Princeton University) exploring the factors that explain the rise of national Investment Screening Mechanisms in Europe and comparing the different features of these mechanisms.
Read the article (open access): Danzman S & Meunier S (2023) Naïve no more: Foreign direct investment screening in the European Union, Global Policy 14(S3)
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The high seas, the polar regions, the atmosphere, outer space, and cyberspace... these areas beyond national jurisdiction have become increasingly contested, especially in an era of rising geopolitics. What role does the EU play in the governance of these areas?
In Episode 8, The External is joined by Professor Joris Larik and Professor Simon Schunz who discuss the growing importance and contestation of 'global spaces' and how the EU approach compares with other key players in the governance of these spaces based on the collective findings from their special issue, edited together with Sieglinde Gstöhl, The European Union and the Governance of Contested Global Spaces in an Era of Geopolitics, in the Journal of European Integration. The special issue also includes contributions from Marianne Riddervold, Andreas Raspotnik and Adam Stępień, Giulia Pavesi and Jan Wouters, and Hanna Smith.
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While the COVID-19 crisis had an economic impact worldwide, different states and regions responded with different macroeconomic policies and with very different results.
In Episode 7, The External is joined by Prof Bernadette Andreosso-O'Callaghan and Prof Woosik Moon who compare these different global responses and discuss the key results from their edited volume Economic Policy and the Covid-19 CrisisThe Macroeconomic Response in the US, Europe and East Asia, published by Routledge in 2022.
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What role do multinational corporations play in African regional political and economic intregration?
In Episode 6, the External provides an overview of the recent article by Dr Mpumelelo Mkhabela and Professor Christopher Changwe Nshimbi published in the Journal of African Business, '‘Post-Apartheid South Africa and African Continental Integration: The Contribution of South African Multinational Corporations to Integration".
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Can changes to British foreign policy be understood as an outcome of factional politics that divided the Conservative Party during the Brexit negotiations? In Episode 5, the External is joined by Benjamin Martill, who argues that the defeat of Teresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement brought to power a pro-Brexit faction with a distinct foreign policy worldview and incentives to demonstrate a cleaner break from the European Union. We discuss the key insights from his recent article in the Journal of European Public Policy, "Withdrawal symptoms: party factions, political change and British foreign policy post-Brexit."
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National and subnational parliaments are increasingly taking up a role in regional trade negotiations, which has implications for the final negotiation outcomes. The parliamentary engagement with the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement may be a deciding factor in the agreement's future.In Episode 4, the External is joined by Bruno Luciano from the Université libre de Bruxelles and Cairo Junqueira of the Federal University of Sergipe to discuss their recent article "Beyond parliamentary ratification: the role of national and subnational parliaments in EU-Mercosur trade negotiations" in the Journal of European Integration.
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Individual US states engage in their own diplomatic efforts towards the EU - Illinois even has an office in Brussels - but they do so in different ways and for different reasons. This episode dives into this long-standing but under-researched practice.
This episode brings in Maria Helena Guimaraes (University of Minho) and Michelle Egan (American University) to discuss their article (co-authored with Sandrina Antunes), "Made in the USA? The paradiplomatic strategies of California and Illinois to the EU".
