The European Union as a Small Power, or Conceptualizing Europe’s Strategic Actorness

Abstract

The article disputes the notion that the European Union is unfit to develop a strategic actorness for cultural or structural reasons or that it must change in order to facilitate the development of such a presence. Instead, it posits a counter‐intuitive hypothesis: an EU strategic actorness has already emerged and its tenets are not those of a great power — but rather those of a small power. In this article the EU strategic actorness is traced in the Union’s history, in its geopolitical setting, in its power resources and in the attitudes of its leaders. The article shows how the twin concepts of ‘strategic actorness’ and ‘small state studies’ have much to offer in terms of gaining insight into the foreign policies of the European Union.