Elena Korosteleva is Professor of International Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics, at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, UK. She is Director of the Global European Centre, and LSE Dahrendorf Debating Europe Professorial Fellow. Igor Merheim-Eyre is a Research Fellow, Global Europe Centre, University of Kent, UK. Eske van Gils is Post-Doctoral Research Associate, GCRF RCUK COMPASS Project ‘Comprehensive Capacity-building in Eastern Europe and Central Asia’, and Research Fellow, Global Europe Centre, University of Kent, UK.

• 1. Eastern Partnership: bringing “the political” back in Elena Korosteleva 2. Bringing “the political” back into European security: challenges to the EU’s ordering of the Eastern Partnership Licínia Simão 3. How “the political” can make the European external action service more effective in the eastern region Hrant Kostanyan 4. Exploring the European Union’s rationalities of governing: the case of cross-border mobility in the eastern partnership Igor Merheim-Eyre 5. Differentiation through bargaining power in EU–Azerbaijan relations: Baku as a tough negotiator Eske van Gils 6. Europe and the political: from axiological monism to pluralistic dialogism Richard Sakwa

Elena Korosteleva is Professor of International Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics, at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, UK. She is Director of the Global European Centre, and LSE Dahrendorf Debating Europe Professorial Fellow. Igor Merheim-Eyre is a Research Fellow, Global Europe Centre, University of Kent, UK. Eske van Gils is Post-Doctoral Research Associate, GCRF RCUK COMPASS Project ‘Comprehensive Capacity-building in Eastern Europe and Central Asia’, and Research Fellow, Global Europe Centre, University of Kent, UK.

• 1. Eastern Partnership: bringing “the political” back in Elena Korosteleva 2. Bringing “the political” back into European security: challenges to the EU’s ordering of the Eastern Partnership Licínia Simão 3. How “the political” can make the European external action service more effective in the eastern region Hrant Kostanyan 4. Exploring the European Union’s rationalities of governing: the case of cross-border mobility in the eastern partnership Igor Merheim-Eyre 5. Differentiation through bargaining power in EU–Azerbaijan relations: Baku as a tough negotiator Eske van Gils 6. Europe and the political: from axiological monism to pluralistic dialogism Richard Sakwa

Elena Korosteleva is Professor of International Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics, at the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, UK. She is Director of the Global European Centre, and LSE Dahrendorf Debating Europe Professorial Fellow. Igor Merheim-Eyre is a Research Fellow, Global Europe Centre, University of Kent, UK. Eske van Gils is Post-Doctoral Research Associate, GCRF RCUK COMPASS Project ‘Comprehensive Capacity-building in Eastern Europe and Central Asia’, and Research Fellow, Global Europe Centre, University of Kent, UK.

• 1. Eastern Partnership: bringing “the political” back in Elena Korosteleva 2. Bringing “the political” back into European security: challenges to the EU’s ordering of the Eastern Partnership Licínia Simão 3. How “the political” can make the European external action service more effective in the eastern region Hrant Kostanyan 4. Exploring the European Union’s rationalities of governing: the case of cross-border mobility in the eastern partnership Igor Merheim-Eyre 5. Differentiation through bargaining power in EU–Azerbaijan relations: Baku as a tough negotiator Eske van Gils 6. Europe and the political: from axiological monism to pluralistic dialogism Richard Sakwa