The European Union in International Affairs: How EU Foreign Policy Fails the Middle East

Teti, Andrea; Abbott, Pamela; Talbot, Valeria; Maggiolini, Paolo

This book explains why the EU is not a ‘normative actor’ in the Southern Mediterranean, and how and why EU democracy promotion fails. Drawing on a combination of discourse analysis of EU policy documents and evidence from opinion polls showing ‘what the people want’, the book shows EU policy fails because the EU promotes a conception of democracy which people do not share. Likewise, the EU’s strategies for economic development are misconceived because they do not reflect the people’s preferences for greater social justice and reducing inequalities. This double failure highlights a paradox of EU democracy promotion: while nominally emancipatory, it de facto undermines the very transitions to democracy and inclusive development it aims to pursue.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2021-01-21

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9783030338855

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-33883-1

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 336