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The article discusses the emergence of a multipolar world economic order. Topics discussed include European Commission vice president Josep Borrell's view that the U.S., China and European Union are the dominant poles in the world economic order, the global shift away from the principles of classical industrial economy, and the role of digital technologies on the revolutionary transformation of the global economy.

The European Union's actorness in international development has been mainly approached from the perspective of EU foreign policy studies, by accounting for the type of power that the EU institutions have aimed to project around the world. Turning this theoretical puzzle upside down and starting from an analysis of indirect governance in EU aid policies, the current article unveils additional instances of EU agency, such as the EU as a policy facilitator and as a policy interpreter. The theoretical argument builds on indirect governance theories, a novel theoretical tool that has not been previously used for analysing EU international development actorness. Empirical examples include regional programmes in Latin America and show how delegation and orchestration as mechanisms of indirect governance have been used by the European Commission in order to continue playing a relevant role in a complex and changing international development context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the EU's policy towards Iran from 1992–1998. It seeks to address the question of to what extent the EU was effective in dealing with Iran. It unpacks the concept of effectiveness and explores the link between internal effectiveness—that is, whether the EU manages to act cohesively and purposefully—and external effectiveness—that is, whether the EU is able to reach the goals it sets for itself in the international arena. During these years, the EU focused its attention on various key issue areas, such as human rights, terrorism, and the fatwa against the British author Salman Rushdie: progress in these areas was set as condition for fuller cooperation. This study discusses that the EU did not speak with one voice and in various instances clashes between EU Member States became evident. It concludes that the EU's low internal effectiveness translated into low external effectiveness and therefore the EU failed to achieve its stated goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By examining how Turkey has strategically leveraged its immigration detention practices in its relationship to the EU, this article draws scholarly attention to the neglected international dimensions of detention policy-making. While narratives of national security bolster the justification for detention of asylum seekers and other migrants, this article focuses on additional roles that Turkey calls on detention to play in its relationship with the European Union. In particular, the article discusses 'transit migration' as a policy discourse Turkey has strategically adopted and leveraged to its advantage when dealing with the EU. As form of 'premature labelling', this discourse undermines the claims of belonging that foreign nationals labelled as transit migrants have in Turkey. Thus, it provides a narrative for justifying detention expansion. This international dimension of detention policy-making must be taken into account for future discussions around how to curb or abolish the practice at the borders of Europe and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UN General Assembly (UNGA) voting is non-binding, unlike voting in the Security Council (UNSC), yet is considered to reflect states' interests. This article attempts to explore, compare, and explain patterns in UNGA voting of two regional organisations (ROs) on Israel-related resolutions, and/or issues that are of importance to Israel. Israel has been a unique case when it comes to the UN, which has shown pervasive hostility towards the Jewish state over the past decades (e.g. 83 of the 97 UNGA resolutions criticising countries in 2012–15 [or 86%] were directed against Israel). While most researchers agree that ROs differ in the level of their group vote uniformity, this article argues that states' voting on resolutions related to Israel also varies within ROs and over time. As such, it sheds light on internal changes within the examined ROs (the Arab League and the EU) and shows important differences among members of these organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policies implemented in the Sahel by the EU and individual member states have reduced the number of migrants transiting through the region towards Europe. However, the sustainability of this approach should be questioned as it may also increase domestic tensions in politically fragile and administratively weak states, leading to increased pressure on political and social systems that already are struggling to stay afloat. Thus, whereas making a country like Niger an integral part of European migration management may seem successful, the approach of the EU may also have several unintended consequences. This paper will critically examine the EU's crisis response towards the Sahel with a particular focus on Niger and the city of Agadez, arguing that while EU's approach may have reduced the number of migrants passing through Agadez, it could also come to undermine a number of local compromises that so far have helped Niger display higher resilience towards the crises that are quickly destabilising neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a forecast by the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) on the transformation of international politics during the COVID-19 pandemic, as of December 2020. It highlights the impact of the pandemic on relations between Russia and European Union (EU). It also discusses the impact of the pandemic in Brazil, Middle East and the U.S.

This article focuses on the evolution of the European Union–Morocco relationship during the first years of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The aim is to show that Morocco has succeeded in developing a privileged relationship with the EU, taking advantage of the particular institutional characteristics of this period, especially under ENP. Considering the European Union (EU) frequently stresses the importance of democracy and human rights' progress for justifying the quality of the relationship, the research focuses on these topics. Contrarily to what EU suggests, this research found no evidence of progress in these fields. The research equally points out that the EU evaluations of these elements were lenient towards the objective facts that do not show enough progress to support this type of relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has the United Kingdom(UK) Brexit referendum been a catalyst for more European Union security cooperation? How significant are post-referendum initiatives in security and defence? What are the implications of Brexit for European Union (EU) and UK security and defence? This article analyses EU post-Brexit strategic choices following the launch of the EU Global Strategy (2016). EU autonomy in security and defence requires close cooperation with third countries, including Norway and post-Brexit UK. It remains to be seen whether the EU and the UK can forge a new bespoke security and defence relationship that delivers mutual benefits through shared strategic ambitions, while also protecting their various interests. We suggest there will be serious collateral damage to UK-EU security and defence cooperation if post-Brexit trade negotiations descend into acrimony and mistrust, especially in the event of "no-deal" once the "transition period" ends. This would undermine European security and the EU's quest for strategic autonomy in world affairs and have serious implications for both UK and EU security. We conclude that the EU needs to work with the UK on a plan to achieve global strategic autonomy, or both risk reduced influence in the wider world in the years ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) has recently shown a greater interest in strengthening its security ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Yet, over the last few years, the EU has had to face a number of hard realities that have challenged the organization from both within and outside its borders. Why and how, in such a complex scenario, the EU is seeking to strengthen its security relations with ASEAN has thus become a salient question. In order to answer this question, this article recognizes the utility of “principled pragmatism” as a conceptual and operational lens to analyse the recent recalibration of the EU’s security policy towards ASEAN. To this end, it first provides a conceptual analysis of principled pragmatism and operationalizes this concept in the context of the EU’s security policy towards ASEAN. Second, it examines why principled pragmatism arose and how it is reflected in such a policy. Finally, it seeks to shed some light on the implications and controversial issues resulting from the EU’s attempt to find a middle way between a pragmatic stance and a principled foreign and security policy towards Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its geographical proximity to the EU, the Sahel region's perceived cross-border security threats of terror, migration and organized crime have become a top European security policy priority. Contributing to existing debates on EU external actions, the article develops the idea that the EU's engagement in the Sahel has become an attempt to construct and confirm the Union's ability to act as a global security actor. Through the analytical lens of 'translation' emphasizing the continuous transformation of norms and ideas by actors and contexts, the article examines how EU staff implement shifting policy objectives in their security practices in Mali; the effects these intervention practices produce; and how, in turn, these effects reflect back upon the EU's role as a security actor. The article shows how the EU's actorness and ability to perform security are hampered by the lack of buy-in from their local partners, as narrating success in a context of escalating violence becomes increasingly implausible. Thus, we argue that while the EU's activities in Mali reinforce the idea of the EU as a security actor, the limited character and impact of the EU's activities on the ground also reinforce the idea of it as a limited or even ineffective actor. The article thereby provides fruitful input to discussions of the constitutive effects of everyday practices in interventions and the production of EU security actorness as played out in the Sahel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic sanctions impose costs on sender as well as target states, and those costs increase with the degree of interdependence between the states in question. We test the hypothesis that EU member states that are more economically interdependent with Russia would be the most opposed to the imposition of sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine in 2013–2014. However, an analysis of the debate over the imposition of sanctions shows the opposite: a modest positive correlation between economic interdependence and support for the sanctions among EU member states. This finding further calls into question the fundamental linkage between economic self-interest and conflict avoidance among interdependent states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the evolving relationship between the European Union (EU) and Turkey following the 2015 refugee crisis. It argues that post-crisis relations have become predominantly functional, measured by strategic EU-Turkey partnership based on interdependence as well as the EU's relative retreat from political membership conditionality. This is particularly demonstrated by the March 2016 EU-Turkey 'refugee deal' whereby functional cooperation deepened amidst material and normative concessions that the EU granted Ankara. The article concludes that although functionalism is set to guide the relations beyond the question of Turkey's EU accession, a future EU-Turkey external differentiated integration arrangement remains uncertain due to pending challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With high interdependence, politicization, and unlikely enlargement, alternative options for EU–Turkey relations beg for consideration. This article argues that, first of all, conceptualization of a new model of EU–Turkey relations must thoroughly account for the evolution of the European project away from uniformity and towards more differentiation as a result of both integration and disintegration pressures. Secondly, an extended model of external differentiated integration has a potential to foster new, more dynamic EU–Turkey relations. However, its practical implementation is constrained by a number of challenges and scope conditions related to preferences and interests of key actors, namely EU institutions, member states and Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU is vigorously pursuing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in its trade and aid relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Justifying the EPAs as being 'development friendly', EU officials promise that aid support to private sector development (PSD) in ACP countries will make free trade systems 'win–win'. This article, based on the authors' semi-structured interviews conducted in Ghana and Nigeria, examines the perspectives of cocoa stakeholders vis-à-vis EPAs and PSD. Applying critical discourse analysis to interview transcripts, it underscores areas of overlap and, crucially, divergence among cocoa stakeholders' own narratives on PSD support in the context of EPAs and the official legitimating discourse of EU institutions. In the process, the article draws critical attention to cocoa business interviewees' concerns regarding the impact of premature trade liberalisation. It also underscores cocoa stakeholders' concerns that EU PSD promises are not being fulfilled in terms of actual tangible benefits for business people in this vital ACP export sector. Accordingly, the article contributes to, and corroborates, an existing critical scholarly literature which problematises the strategic functions of donor PSD discourse in presenting free trade reforms as being 'pro-poor' in the post-Washington Consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the characterisation of the European Council as an arena for 'integrative bargaining', the paper shows the importance of two factors that influence whether a country can act as 'first among equals' or ('Primus Inter Pares') in a system designed to respect national sovereignty: alignment among the 'Big Three', and 'voice opportunities' for smaller member states. We support this argument with view of Germany's divergent role in two recent international crises - the 2011 uprisings in Libya and the violent protests in Ukraine in 2014/2015. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that the ability to create consent among all Member States is both a key prerequisite and a serious challenge for effective leadership in EU foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the height of the migration crisis (between autumn 2015 and summer 2016), Germany's role in EU migration policy and EU-Turkey affairs went through a period of change. Searching for effective instruments, the German government attempted to lead European policies, managing the crisis first through an 'open door' approach and then through an agreement with Turkey. The notion of 'Merkel's migration deal' and a 'German Alleingang' became prominent in political, public and academic debate. With the aim of assessing whether or not these terms correctly describe Germany's role, this article unpacks the complex Ankara-Berlin-Brussels triangle. It examines how structural and institutional power influenced the German role. We argue that, under extreme time pressure, Germany took refuge in a constrained type of leadership. Positions of other EU member states and institutions, as well as domestic factors (social tension, public opinion and the rise of the far right) inhibited the leadership potential. Additionally, the paper elaborates on differences between the EU's internal and external crisis management. In external migration policy, German leadership took the form of a flexible 'institutional directoire', through which Germany successfully negotiated an EU-Turkey statement on migration, in consultation with EU institutions and selected national leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates Germany's role in the European Union's (EU) foreign policy towards Russia. It argues that Germany has been a leader in EU relations with Russia since the late 2000s, most notably through attempts to upload its long-standing policy of dialogue and cooperation with Moscow – known as Ostpolitik – to the EU level. During the Ukraine crisis, German leadership in this field became hegemonic. Economic and institutional power, the consent of its European and transatlantic allies and supportive domestic politics allowed Germany to profile itself as the main EU negotiating partner for Moscow. By highlighting the long-term German quest for leadership in the EU's relations with Russia, the article makes the argument that Germany is not a 'reluctant', but rather an assertive hegemon in this policy area. Furthermore, the article highlights how the Ostpolitik tradition and its self-conception as a civilian power enabled Germany to lead Western diplomacy in the Ukraine crisis. At the same time, Germany's hegemonic leadership in EU-Russia relations faces several challenges and limitations, which relate to the nature of Germany's power, the consent of its allies and evolving domestic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses political developments in the Balkans, particularly in Kosovo and Albania, as of March 2020. Also cited are the results of the latest elections in the two countries, their deteriorating relationships with the European Union (EU), and the improving positions of Turkey and Russia to influence politics in the region.

Although Ireland's migration policy has converged towards EU norms, it has overall been more influenced by the UK, and maintaining the common travel area, and by domestic politics, than by Europeanisation. Since migration is not highly salient or contentious in Ireland, the Irish government was free in 2015 to participate in the EU response to the migration policy crisis. Ireland opted in to relocate asylum seekers from Greece and Italy, and to resettle refugees from Lebanon, to provide personnel to the European Asylum Support Office and to dispatch the defence forces to participate in Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean. This practical expression of solidarity with those Member States with an external border also served to garner solidarity from the EU in the era of Brexit, and to reinforce a particular European identity for Ireland based on liberalism and cosmopolitanism, in the era of 'illiberal democracy' from certain quarters of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) has been portrayed as a force for good in the international system. However, due to systemic changes in the international environment and the crises of European integration, its role in the world is becoming more contentious. This paper applies the politicization literature to EU foreign policy and, using the case of the EU Global Strategy (EUGS), questions the effects of emerging politicization for EU political integration. The paper analyses how the EUGS has downscaled the transformative ambition of EU foreign policy, showcasing an adverse framing of its strategic narrative. However, it also argues that this narrative has been accompanied by more integrationist practices, as shown by the institutional developments during the making of the EUGS and its implementation in security and defence. The paper concludes that the effects of emerging politicization in EU foreign policy can simultaneously reflect a less transformative narrative but lead to more integrated practices and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the influence of the European Union in shaping and promoting the discourse, theoretical bases and political practices that make up the Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration. It analyses the experiences and dynamics of European Union policies in its most recent history, and explores its operational, discursive and practical dimensions, focusing on the example of the EU's partnership with Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors assess the decision of the European Commission, in March 2018, not to implement a European Framework agreement concluded at sectoral level (the Hairdressers Agreement), despite a joint request to do so from the signatory parties. They argue that the decision was not consistent with the criteria relied on by the Commission to make it. In particular, the Commission's refusal was contrary to the formal obligation enshrined in Article 155(2) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to table a proposal to turn an Agreement of this kind into a Directive. Their analysis is based on, among other things, the duty to respect the autonomy of the social partners in Article 152 TFEU, and the recognition of the right to collective bargaining in Article 28 CFREU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chapter II of the European Pillar of Social Rights envisages fair working conditions that are further spelled out in two principles on secure and adaptable employment (Principle 5) and information about employment conditions and protection in dismissals (Principle 7). In order to deliver on this framework, in December 2017 the European Commission presented an ambitious and far-reaching proposal for a Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union that would repeal Directive 91/533/EC on an employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship. The proposal, after a series of uneasy negotiations in the Parliament and the Council, and with substantial modifications, was subsequently adopted in June 2019. Against this background, the main aim of this note is to analyse the new Directive (EU) 2019/1152. This piece focuses firstly on the Directive's nuanced hybrid personal ambit of application. Secondly, it examines its material scope of application and sheds some light on the new set of rights and entitlements available to workers, including novel enforcement mechanisms. Finally, the note provides a critical assessment of the Directive with the aim of unveiling its potential to boost workers' rights in the European Union, in particular those engaged in non-standard forms of employment, who are especially prone to experiencing precarious working conditions, such as on-demand and platform workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that Russia began expressing more interest in Africa under President Vladimir Putin's leadership in the 2000s and activities remain limited in comparison to the longstanding presence of the U.S. and European Union. It mentions Russia's deals are opaque and often buttressed by political and security support for individual autocrats, undercutting the possibility for democratic consolidation in states where government institutions are fragile or dysfunctional. It also mentions Putin has succeeded in diversifying the Russian economy somewhat and in creating a cushion for market shocks.

International economic agreements increasingly touch on fundamental principles of corporate governance. The trend contrasts with existing scholarship, which assumes corporate law evolves via domestic mechanisms. This Article introduces the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, with its dedicated chapter on corporate governance, as a case study. At the normative level, the emergence of corporate governance in international agreements represents a positive development by enabling countries to signal and put into action commitments for better governance. Given these recent developments, the field of comparative corporate governance should incorporate international agreements as an emerging source of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article conceives the EU's normative power in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a narrative that projects views of the international system, the EU's identity as a peacebuilder, and its positions on specific conflict issues. Highlighting the importance of local narratives as cultural filters, this article argues that a high degree of alignment of local narratives with key elements of the EU's normative power narrative facilitates positive images of the EU as a normative power in peacebuilding, whilst diverging local narratives tend to give rise to more critical views. Yet, the case of Palestine also shows that strong narrative alignment with the EU may encourage high expectations, resulting in critical views about inconsistencies between the EU's normative aspirations and its actual foreign policy conduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of narrative can help identify the expectations actors hold about each other in international relations. This article triangulates a mix of elite interviews, media content analysis and an original Q-sort public opinion methodology to map the presence of narratives about EU relations among young Israelis and Palestinians. Our aim is not to explain the effects of EU public diplomacy in these countries. Instead we aim to identify the narrative "terrain" or conditions that the EU communicates to and with and, drawing on feminist and everyday narrative studies, to examine the role of affect and identity to explain why some narratives are more "sticky" than others in those societies. We find, first, a broad recognition that the EU's capacity to act in international relations is necessary but limited in the face of greater challenges in the international system, and indeed, within the EU itself. We find, second, little evidence that young people radically reshape the narratives they encounter in their public spheres, but nevertheless some important divisions emerge that pose problems for how EU policymakers can communicate consistently without dismaying some citizens in third countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of newsmakers as intermediaries in the shaping of external perceptions and reception of narratives advanced by different actors remains sparse in EU studies. This contribution fills this gap and addresses the personal images of the EU of newsmakers. We contribute to the understanding of those personal perceptions and their link to professional values of audience interest, newsworthiness and objectivity in reporting the EU. The article will demonstrate that all journalists perceive EU coverage in their respective locations are led by local priorities. Negative views of the EU as a weakening, biased, ineffective, elitist and arrogant actor are dominant. Arguably, they create conditions for the birth and dissemination of Euro-distant and even Euro-sceptic media narratives. The article will explain why this is the case while drawing on political/ideational and business/financial explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting on the results presented in articles in this special issue, European leaders should take greater account of external perceptions in crafting the European Union's strategic narrative and guiding its actions. Failure to do so has impaired external policies like the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership. Leaders emerging from the Arab uprisings perceived the EU as complicit with their countries' former anciens régimes and Russian leaders see EU support for democracy and the market economy in former Soviet states as duplicitous and instrusive. Awareness of such perceptions should be filtered into EU decision-making, without validating views that European officials and diplomats consider misleading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU's normative promotion is a keystone in the arch of its Foreign and Security Policy, reflected in establishing a "ring of friends" in its neighbourhood. However, the EU's normative impact in these countries is often hindered by domestic constraints. Conversely, deeper socialisation through persuasion and "learning" may advance towards the promotion of EU norms better. By tracing the "learning" component of the EU's external perceptions in its Eastern (Ukraine) and Southern (Israel and Palestine) neighbourhoods, this paper elaborates upon the receptiveness of EU norms. Considering the specific attention that the ENP draws towards the support of civil society, this paper focuses on "learning" narratives of EU norms among civil society elites in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine as the key targets of EU assistance – with a particular focus on various conceptualisations of learning in the learning process. Notwithstanding perceptions of the EU as a normative power, we find that the learning processes remain too complex to be captured within a single theoretical framework. Whereas communicative rationality implies learning about each other's identities through rational arguing, our analysis demonstrates that identity performance is one of the most emotive and crucial factors in perceptions of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue seeks to better understand the role of communication and perception in EU crisis diplomacy. In a recent Special Issue in this journal, Catarina Kinnvall, Ian Manners and Jennifer Mitzen argue that, " ... the greatest security challenge facing people across Europe is not physical, despite the threats of Putin and ISIS, but is a sense of fear and anxiety over their daily lives" [2018. Introduction to 2018 Special Issue of European Security: "Ontological (in)security in the European Union". European security, 27 (3), 249–265]. We take an interdisciplinary approach to widen the scope of studies on European security and offer new avenues for further research into how citizens in the EU's neighbourhood understand the security challenges they face and the role the EU plays in addressing these. Through this, we aim to bring theoretical and methodological innovation to understanding the role of the EU as an external actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does media coverage of European Union (EU) politics affect the process of European integration? This contribution investigates the nature and logic of media coverage of EU affairs and identifies the news value criteria that underpin it. It subsequently confronts the key causal mechanisms and processes of grand theories of European integration with this media logic. This generates several key insights in which media impact the EU and European integration. Importantly, it functions to empower the intergovernmentalist nature of the EU, by providing a platform for member state governments, focusing on conflicts between them, reinforcing the primacy of national identity, and by amplifying the European Council as the main locus of EU decision-making. But media also create opportunities for new supranational entrepreneurship that is executive in nature, in policy fields where the EU has significant powers, facilitates action in public interest fields such as consumer policy and supports majoritarian rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens of the European Union (EU) voted to elect 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from May 23-26, 2019, making this the second largest democratic election in the world. Resulting with the traditional mainstream center parties weakened, while anti-establishment parties, including the Greens and the far-right populists, increasing their power. The two main political groups (the European People's Party and Social Democrats), for the first time in history, had lost their combined majority in the European Parliament (EP). Despite all the discouraging signs, the new political environment in Europe can still provide opportunities to develop Turkey-EU relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the post-Cold War period, the European Union's neighbourhood policy towards its emerging eastern neighbours aims to surround the European Union (EU) with a ring of secure, stable and prosperous neighbouring countries. Advancing conflict transformation through cross-border cooperation initiatives constitutes a crucial part of the European neighbourhood policy. Cross-border interaction and cooperation are expected to lessen the heavy burden of sealed borders by decreasing isolation and indifference and promoting mutual interaction, dialogue and confidence-building between conflicting parties. However, there are several ethno-political contestations whose historical animosities cast a shadow on the effectiveness of the EU's neighbourhood and cross-border cooperation policies for conflict transformation. The Turkish-Armenian case testifies to the persistence of physical and mental borders that stem from competing historical memories, longstanding grievances and contesting national claims, as well as from regional dynamics. This article aims to assess the impact of the EU's neighbourhood policy and cross-border cooperation initiatives on conflict transformation on the Turkish-Armenian border. The EU's policies have remained partially relevant and effectual by initiating interaction and dialogue at the civil societal level. Advancing conflict transformation at the political level, however, would require the EU to develop a more comprehensive framework that considers the cross-cutting context of the competing historical memories and regional dynamics and shifts that currently undermine the impact of further transformative attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses several reports within the issue of the periodical on topics including role of multi-level governance (MLG) in the European Union (EU's) diplomatic relations and policy interventions and impact of MLG on the legitimacy and efficiency of migration law.

The article examines and compares the Russian and Western research agendas on the European Union (EU)–Russia policies in their shared neighbourhood. The analysis will be implemented in four successive steps. (1) The conceptualisation of the EU–Russia common neighbourhood in the Western and Russian researches will be analysed in three dimensions (terminology attributed to this region, political–social transformations, regionalism) that will contextualise the subsequent analysis of the Western and Russian research agendas on (2) EU policies (European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership) and (3) Russia's policies (including the issues of the Eurasian integration) towards the common neighbourhood and also on (4) EU–Russia interactions within this area. The conclusions will identify and systemise the major trends as well as nuances in each agenda and also the differences and asymmetries between the Western and Russian research agendas will be outlined and analysed. These differences are determined by both, the policy-oriented and academic factors. The agendas are asymmetric, yet they are not monolithic, pluralism exists in both of them. Prospects for the further research will be outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses how Russian and European scholars have studied EU-Russia cooperation in the field of higher education. Cooperation in this field occupies a small share of scholarship on EU-Russia cooperation but has been evaluated as 'the least conflicting' among all areas of cooperation and the least affected by crises in EU-Russia relations. We first review the phases of cooperation and argue that cooperation has transformed from technical aid in the 1990s towards a more equal partnership since the mid-2000s. We present our analysis of previous studies in this field by looking at how scholars, often practitioners of cooperation themselves, have presented the objectives, results and challenges of cooperation and its future prospects. In particular, we are interested in whether cooperation has been presented as something between equal partners or as an asymmetrical relationship, and the binaries 'donor-recipient' or 'master–pupil' applied. We argue that these roles given by different actors are relevant to understanding the past and current of EU-Russia relations. Our findings confirm that the shared objective of the nature of cooperation is that of being between equal partners. Cooperation is also viewed as beneficial to both Russia and EU member states at the national/supranational, institutional and individual levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a typology and a comparative analysis of academic studies on EU-Russian economic cooperation since its formal inception in the early 1990s. The authors strive to present a contextual analysis, explaining how the bilateral trends have been perceived in the respective academic environments. On this basis, the paper accentuates problems of academic dialogue between EU and Russian researchers, like constraints of mutual internalization, language-determination, and different research agendas. Four European discourses on the role of economic relations in EU-Russian relations are identified: Normative one (economic and non-economic interlinkages are inseparable and structurally determined), 'Business case' discourse (economic relations constitute an inherent system), 'Neo-Ostpolitik' discourse (establish reliable and trustful relations between the EU and Russia) and 'Economic statecraft' discourse (maximizing EU power and disciplining Russia). Russian publications are usually more policy-oriented compared to Western studies. We trace four periods: Illusions of Euro optimism during Russian market transformation (1992–1999); Adaptation to the EU enlargement and Putin's attempts to establish a partnership with leading EU member states (1999–2008); Crisis in EU-Russian relations (2008–2015) and New Cold War (since 2015). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the state of academic dialogue between the Russian and Western scholarly communities studying the European Union (EU)–Russia relations in Justice and Home Affairs (JHA). By analyzing the citation patterns of the academic articles on the EU–Russia cooperation in this area, we arrive at the conclusion that the Russian scholarship mostly does not engage in a transnational academic dialogue with the Western counterparts. In other words, it has turned into a sealed 'indigenous' scholarly community. And what is more, it is also disintegrated within itself since the Russian scholars do not refer to the research produced by their compatriots either. To qualitatively substantiate our findings, in the last section of the paper, we review the universe of all articles written on the topic in Russian to distinguish five trends typical of the research published in Russian academic journals. We believe that these features are the result of the lack of engagement with the Western scholarship and simultaneously the cause which prevents the communication between the two scholarly communities. This, in turn, undermines the accumulation of the transnational multifaceted policy-relevant expertise essential for normalizing the relations between Brussels and Moscow in general and in JHA in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes and compares EU and Russian approaches to the study of cross-border cooperation (CBC) after the Cold War, after examining the historical background and main theoretical approaches that have framed this literature. While EU literature has mirrored EU practice by drawing attention to more diverse and complex modes of cooperation, Russian analyses echo the official emphasis on mutual economic interactions with EU countries at the border areas. Western analyses of CBC are implicitly influenced by the works on 'new regionalism' and transnationalism. As a whole, the European scholars underline that cross-border projects have had limited impact; they point to various obstacles to cross-border economic development, resulting in only a limited effect on existing structural factors. In turn, Russian scholars acknowledge the minor interest of the Russian government in cross-border cooperation with the EU, stressing Russia's priority to implement an independent foreign policy in Europe aimed at restoration of its own economic power. Operating from a constructivist theoretical framework, the authors conclude that the ideational apparatus used to analyze border cooperation is strongly conditioned by the political context in which scholars operate as well as by the larger geopolitical situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russia-Georgia conflict in August 2008 and Ukraine's crisis have dramatic consequences for the security environment on the EU Eastern periphery and undermined 'strategic partnership' with Russia. The Western literature on security has been dominated since by Russia's confrontation with Europe, the use of sanctions by the EU as an instrument of statecraft to 'contain' Russia, and the promotion by Moscow of 'hybrid warfare' tactics. The Russian literature has mainly concentrated on rivalry between Russia and the EU in the post-Soviet region, reciprocal sanctions and 'Cold War 2.0'. In fact, much of the previous extensive literature reflected commonalities as well as divergences in Russian and European scholars' perceptions of their security relationship. We identify the key conceptual and empirical concerns reflected in the scholarly literature: (1) legal-institutional issues; (2) EU–Russia bilateral cooperation in security governance; (3) EU–Russia cooperation at the international level to address common security problems and (4) EU–Russia relations in terms of ideational/identity issues. We have used these four themes as the basis of our analytical framework enabling us to compare approaches of Russian and European scholars. The conclusions focus on the commonalities and differences in European and Russian scholarship and identify epistemological and practical consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces a special issue on studying EU-Russian relations. It overviews Russian- and English-language academic research to identify whether there is sufficient dialogue on issues studied, theories applied and categories used for a transnational epistemic community to emerge. This latter would allow the academic world to better contribute to the resolution of the present crisis in EU-Russian relations. Although an overlap is identified in issues, theories and categories the article exposes multiple differences in how they are approached in English- and Russian-language academic writings. These findings challenge the existence of a transnational epistemic community in EU-Russian relations. The article concludes by discussing steps to make for this community to develop, and introduces contributions to the special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While no breakthrough in relations appears imminent, greater openness to dialogue and eventual normalisation has arisen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of law has received only scarce attention in the emerging debate on framing EU policy. Addressing this research gap, we develop a concept of legal framing that identifies different strategies through which frame entrepreneurs can shape the policy debate by activating the structural power of the law. We demonstrate the relevance of these strategies for the case of the negotiations for an Israel-Europol agreement in which the NGO MATTIN Group has emerged as an influential frame entrepreneur. The NGO conclusively established that the initial draft of the Israel-Europol agreement deviated in important respects from the EU's own legal position. Over time, the EU increasingly felt compelled to maintain the unity and consistency of EU law, asking a number of additional conditions from Israel. The EU's new stance had important implications for the deadlocked Israel-Europol negotiations as well as for EU-Israeli contractual relations more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This note makes the case for a research agenda that addresses the politicization of EU external relations. There is reason to think that, as it is happening on the related issues of globalization and European integration, the role of the EU in the world is becoming more contentious. The EU, an alleged norm exporter, might be turning more divided about the appropriateness of the norms that underpin EU external relations. The article argues that variation in the character of this politicization will depend on the degree of authority transferred to the EU and to international institutions. Such transfers will lead to different blends of two basic models of conflict over EU external relations. One has been described by the literature on the politicization of the EU and the other by the literature on normative processes that see international norms as the object of both promotion and dissent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s the European Union (EU) has increasingly engaged with police and human rights issues in the Western Balkans. In the conflict and post-conflict context of the region, police and human rights issues are intertwined with the EU's foreign policy and internal security objectives. Three types of EU approaches can be identified: containment, intervention, integration. They reflect member states' concerns about migration (containment), the development and ambitions of the EU's external action (intervention) and the consolidation of the EU's area of justice, liberty and security (integration). These approaches are linked to three phases of dealing with the consequence of the conflicts and wars in the region, the EU's engagement in stateand member-state- building and EU accession. The EU's engagement in the area of human rights and police is based on quickly changing perceptions and policies. Despite shortcomings, the EU had a tangible impact on improving policing and the human rights situation. The article reviews developments until the end of 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]