Studying the European Union’s Actorness in the Kurdish Issue: An Analytical Model

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter presented the employed analytical model for the study of the EU’s performance as an actor in the Kurdish issue. It starts with a conceptualisation of geopolitics in the EU’s foreign policy. The observation made was that the EU, as a political union, has progressively developed a rational view of its neighbourhood. This has led to a hybrid approach which is marked by the use of normative instruments, as well as the willingness to embrace aspects of traditional geopolitics which rely on the use of hard power instruments, such as military force, or sanctions. Section 2.3 presents the rationales for EU political actors (supranational and intergovernmental institutions) to cooperate in the EU context. The internal and external grounds for the development of common interest in the EU context were identified and discussed. The discussion set the stage for Sect. 2.4, the presentation of the analytical model employed in this book. The analytical model consists of the concepts of interest, acceptance, performance and impact. The concept of interest is central. It links the internal and external dimensions of the EU’s actorness and encompasses aspects such as coherence, capability and willingness, which are extensively used in the existing literature on the EU’s global actorness. Furthermore, given the geopolitical competition inherent in the Kurdish issue, the extent of acceptance of the EU forms an important factor shaping its actorness in this issue. Finally, the analytical model includes performance and impact as two evaluative concepts. While performance relates to the EU’s ability to implement the common political agenda in light of its mandate and its practical capabilities, the concept of impact pertains to the long-term effectiveness of the EU’s actorness in terms of changing the course of the issue, or the (behaviour of) the actors involved in the Kurdish issue.