This book examines different intellectual frameworks for international relations, including the bureaucratic politics model, neorealism, and institutionalism as tools for understanding the European Union’s (EU) China policy. Based on a study of three political economy-related cases, it demonstrates what approaches not just apply, but apply best in various stages of the policy cycle, why some models apply to several policy stages, and why some seem to work better than others in certain policy stages. The three cases include the EU-China solar panel dispute (2012–2018), the EU investigation into Chinese mobile telecommunications networks (2012–2014), and the EU’s response to China’s rise in Africa via the European Commission initiated EU-China-Africa trilateral cooperation initiative in 2008. Those interested in EU-China affairs can apply this innovative analytical framework to these three cases and a wide range of other issues; scholars, journalists, diplomats, and businesspeople will find this book of value.

Keukeleire and Delreux demonstrate the scope and diversity of the European Union's foreign policy, showing that EU foreign policy is broader than the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, and that areas such as trade, development, environment and energy are inextricable elements of it. This book offers a comprehensive and critical account of the EU's key foreign relations – with its neighbourhood, with the US, China and Russia, and with emerged powers – and argues that the EU's foreign policy needs to be understood not only as a response to crises and conflicts, but also as a means of shaping international structures and influencing long-term processes. This third edition reflects recent changes and trends in EU foreign policy as well as the international context in which it operates, addressing issues such as the increasingly contested international order, the conflict in Ukraine, the migration and refugee crisis, Brexit and Covid-19. The book not only clarifies the formal procedures in EU foreign policy-making but also elucidates how it works in practice. The third edition includes new sections and boxes on 'strategic autonomy', European arms exports, the EU's external representation, the 'Brussels Effect', and decentring and gender approaches to EU foreign policy. Up to date, jargon-free and supported by its own website (eufp.eu), this systematic and innovative appraisal of this key policy area is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practitioners.

This book analyzes the progress of the MSRI, highlights the political and economic factors affecting its realization, and offers insights into the political and economic implications of China’s endeavor. It focuses specifically on countries within Africa and the Middle East to provide a basis for a substantive examination of these issues in a manner sensitive to the milieu in individual countries and relevant regions. It represents the final volume in a well-received series on China’s Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI), which, so far, includes books covering China’s MSRI and South Asia (Palgrave, 2018) and China’s MSRI and Southeast Asia (Palgrave, 2019). This book will interest scholars of China, international relations, and the relevant regions, journalists, and policymakers.

This book explores the levels of cooperation and the phenomenon of convergence among BRICS nations. It provides an in-depth look into the financial and banking systems among these rapidly developing economies and the steps they have taken to foster development and counter inequalities. Of the many factors in determining the income and wealth of a country as well as a group of countries, commercial bank credit, a well-known financial indicator, has been an important one. This book analyses the governance and structure of the New Development Bank and its effects on group members for peer growth and to defend against any external economic and political shocks. It looks at how much of an influence the commercial bank credit, or simply the credit, has upon the income levels of the BRICS member countries, how equitable they are, whether they are converging in credits and incomes, and other such issues. It also focuses on India’s credit aspects of inclusiveness and convergence. With a strong empirical model estimation, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of economics, finance, management, political studies, international relations, and international trade.

This book contributes to the literature on the EU’s role in the international system by engaging with the debates on global actorness and mapping new conceptual and theoretical avenues to better understand how agency and power are exerted at the global and regional levels, in a context of increased contestation of the international liberal order. Organised around three main lines, the book first looks at how the EU positions itself internationally in different policy areas, providing a multi-dimensional reading of EU policies, instruments, and practices; secondly, it engages with the EU’s own perspective toward its regional contexts and with the perspectives of regional actors on the EU; and, thirdly, it explores non-European perspectives on EU actorness, as the way the EU is perceived by others in this system of contested leadership is central to how it is understood in terms of policies, instruments, and overall capability to lead and act as a global power.

This comprehensive and clearly written textbook offers a long-awaited introduction to the trade policy of the European Union, the world's largest trading entity. Gstöhl and De Bièvre provide a comprehensive assessment of the common commercial policy, its relationship with other policies, like development policy, and of the EU's multi-level policy-making and international bargaining in this area. As well as providing a broad overview of the nature and development of the EU's trade policy, the authors analyse how relevant institutions and decision-making processes are organized and how this set-up fosters particular policy outcomes. Gstöhl and De Bièvre show how the thorough and critical study of EU trade policy can be conducted from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, enabling the student to tackle the ever-evolving political, economic, and legal questions that arise. Given the accessible writing, this book is recommended for both undergraduate and Master's students studying the EU and Europe in their Politics, International Relations, Economics or Law degrees, as well as those focusing on international trade policy.

The future of European foreign policy is of vital significance to the developing world order. The failure of US policy in Iraq has underscored the need for Europe to play a constructive global role. Nevertheless, divisions within Europe over the Iraq war and over the future development of the European Union have raised questions about the potential for an effective European foreign policy—whether organized through EU institutions or via individual member states. This book will consider why Europe should assume global responsibilities, how they will be organized institutionally, whether they will be adequate to address pressing regional and security concerns, and how they will reflect the foreign policy interests of Europe’s major powers. It is the intention of this book to cover both thematic and country-specific issues, ranging from Europe’s responsibility as a global actor and EU-NATO relations to the specific influence of Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The contributors come from across the European Union and represent a mix of established and rising scholars. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Integration.

The China-EC/EU relationship, started in 1975, is a highly institutionalized, multidimensional and complex, but to some extent controversial international partnership. It is also challenged within the current unstable world. This book addresses the convergences and the differences (ideational, political, institutional and interests-related) between China and the EU by a collective interaction between Chinese and European scholars. Among other things the book assesses sectoral bilateral dialogue and focuses on the interplay between internal complexity and external policies, discusses ideational divergences in international law and rule of law and in many relevant policy fields. Furthermore, it compares sustainable growth policies; explores trade and investment controversies and negotiations, human rights dialogue; and addresses environment and climate change policies. This text will be of key interest to EU studies and politics, China studies and more broadly to area/Asian studies and international relations/global governance.

This book is an incisive query into the origins, implications and opportunities that China’s Belt and Road Initiative creates for stakeholders in Asia and the Arab World. It emphasises the role of cutting-edge technology in boosting collaboration in the fields of politics, economics, business, and culture across regions, countries and continents.

This book examines the changing dynamics of power in the international arena since the end of the Cold War. Brown engages in analysis of how the United States and the European Union have responded to the so-called rise of China through an examination of how policymakers’ perceptions of China have changed over time and influenced their policy choices. This study undertakes rigorous analysis of how these perceptions have evolved between 1989 and 20092016, offering a comparative perspective on the similarities and differences between the policy discourse and behaviour within these two Western powers. Brown argues that ‘China’s rise’ is a contested notion, with varied perceptions of how the implications of China’s ascendancy have shaped policy preferences in ways that are inconsistent with concerns over the threat of an impending power-transition. Combining concepts and methods derived from IR and FPA, the book examines the linkages between great power politics and policymakers’ competing interpretations of key international actors, and their influence upon foreign policies. The main objective of the study is to illuminate the different ways in which the US and the EU have responded to the rise of China through a close analysis of their decision-making processes and outcomes across a series of key encounters and events, including the transatlantic debate over the EU’s proposal to lift its China arms embargo (2003-2005). Undertaking qualitative analysis of the development of American and European policymakers’ perceptions of China, this book will be of interest to graduates and scholars of post-Cold War international politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, policymaking, US-China relations and EU-China relations.