The Strategic Implications of European Union Enlargement

Enlargement will change the nature of the European Union, but how will it affect international affairs? The EU and its member states can work together on international questions when they choose to do so. They command significant economic resources and have launched a Common Foreign and Security Policy. Yet the demands of taking on ten new countries, managing the aftermath of national referenda on a constitutional treaty, and ameliorating the acrimony after the war in Iraq all complicate efforts to enhance the EU's international presence. In this book twenty authors from Europe and North America consider the impact of EU enlargement on the EU's perception of its international role, on specific geographical regions, and on a range of global issues. Has the latest enlargement affected strategic priorities? Do perspectives differ in different regions of Europe? How has enlargement affected relations with the United States, Russia, Turkey, or the Middle East? Will a larger EU be as active a supporter of development assistance or international environmental policies? Will the EU's role change at the United Nations? Contributors include Stefan Froehlich (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), Hanna Ojanen and Kristi Raik (Finnish Institute of International Affairs), Ulrike Guerot (German Marshall Fund Berlin Office), Stanislaw Tekieli (Center for Eastern Studies, Warsaw), Michael Leigh (European Commission Directorate General for External Affairs), Henri Barkey (Lehigh University), Anne-Marie LeGloannec (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques), Stanislav Tkachenko (St. Petersburg University), Nicolae Idu (European Institute of Romania), Ulrich Weisser, Esther Brimmer, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, and David Michel, (Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins -SAIS), Daniel Gros (CEPS), Angel Ubide (Tudor Investments), Patrick Cronin (CSIS), and Antonio Missoroli (EU Institute for Security Studies).