Implications of the Gap Discourse for the Study of (European) Foreign Policy and European Studies

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is on the broader implications of the gap discourse within which the analytical use of the capability-expectations gap (CEG) and other gaps and deficits are embedded. It reflects on the implications for the study of European foreign policy, national foreign policy and European studies more broadly. One concrete implication of the gap discourse, it is argued, may be the limited number of text books which analyse the making of EU foreign policy. Moreover, it is proposed that the gap discourse reinforces an ahistorical ideal type of the state in foreign policy analysis. Finally, it is argued that other references to “deficits” in European studies carry with them many of the same connotations as in the gap discourse.