Abstract
[full article and abstract in English] This article reviews the existing academic literature that compares and explains the differences between the US and the EU’s external actions. An analytical matrix is devised to group publications by level of analysis (micro-, mid-, and macro) and by theme of comparison criteria. The key findings are that in the macro level of analysis, authors tend to compare the role actors have in international relations before claiming either that the EU is a different kind of power due to its peculiar historical experience, or that the EU is weak due to its complicated structure and lack of military capacities. Furthermore, authors conducting their analyses at the micro level tend to find more similarities between the EU and the US’s external actions than those working at the macro level. The article concludes by making a point in favour of further comparisons as an essential tool to better understand the EU and other actors in international relations.
Highlights
The European Union (EU) often pictures itself as different than other traditional powers, especially in its relations with developing countries
This review is concerned with three key lines of exploration: 1) How can we compare the EU’s foreign policies to those of the traditional actor—a state—in international relations (IR)? 2) When comparisons are made between the EU and traditional actors, what differences and similarities do we find and how do we explain them? 3) What do existing comparisons say about the EU as an actor in IR?
Different related academic discussions presented in this article lead to the following observations regarding the particularities of the EU’s external actions and the utility of comparison
Summary
The European Union (EU) often pictures itself as different (i.e., more normative, civilian, or, generally more benign) than other traditional powers, especially in its relations with developing countries. Authors from a variety of subfields in international relations (IR) ranging from regionalism (Grugel, 2004; Escribano, 2007; Hettne and Ponjaert, 2014) to security studies (Cox, 2003; Kagan, 2002) observe similar differences between the EU and the US. Some claim that these actors prefer different models of cooperation with other countries and regions, and represent. Mars and Venus in Action? The US and EU’s foreign relations strategies in academic discourse
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