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The EU and the war in Iraq : European indecision in the realm of foreign policy

By creating a common foreign policy the EU stands to maximize its international clout and leverage over the globe, in much the same fashion as it has done with its united economic policies. European integrationists imagine the EU becoming a major global power, speaking with one voice, substantially increasing its political clout. As a major power the EU could stand to become a counterbalance to the United States, stabilizing the current unipolar world system and offering a real alternative on the global scene. However, standing in the way of such pursuits is the EU member states unwillingness to give up national sovereignty, along with their own individual foreign policy interests, orientations, traditions, and histories. Achieving global superpower status is most unlikely, but the EU can still make great strides in the area of foreign affairs if it can develop some common ground to work upon. This thesis seeks to expand upon the literature discussing the European Unions foreign policy process. It seeks to clarify the issues preventing the development of meaningful foreign policy, and therefore contribute to the body of knowledge concerning the difficulties that the EU faces. By examining the recent events of the preamble to the war in Iraq, this study analyzes the CFSP as it is to date, and draws conclusion about the nature of collective decision-making within the EU. It is also valuable in its analysis of the foreign policy process and how this in turn reflects upon the wider process of European integration.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-04082009-175032
Date21 April 2009
CreatorsHammel, Elan Nicole
ContributorsStory, Donald C., Steeves, Jeffrey S., Michelmann, Hans J., Jordan, Pamela, Wheeler, Ron
PublisherUniversity of Saskatchewan
Source SetsUniversity of Saskatchewan Library
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04082009-175032/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

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