Imagine there are geopolitical negotiations about the future of Europe and the EU does not take part… Learn more about how the EU can become a decisive player in the Russia-Ukraine conflict (again) following three simple steps!

Putting gender equality at the heart of the Union’s external policies was one of the key messages that Josep Borrel expressed when presenting the latest Gender Action Plan in November 2020. However, it may be wondered what role the HR/VP plays in reaching this goal. Check out this blog post to learn more!

For the first time ever, the EU included a chapter on gender equality in a trade agreement. The modernized association agreement with Chile emphasizes equal rights and participation as well as gender mainstreaming. This has been celebrated as a milestone and fits the EU’s self-painted image of a frontrunner promoting gender equality. Has the EU actually combined its normative aspirations with its market and regulatory power to push for these provisions? Has it acted as a rule maker or rather as a rule taker? Learn more about the EU’s gender-responsive trade policy and how it relates to Canada and Chile.

The European Idea has been diversely discussed in Political Philosophy. In this post, I present and discuss the utopian idea of a European Republic by German political scientist Ulrike Guérot. Her book “Warum Europa eine Republik werden muss!” (Why Europe has to become a Republic) became very popular in Germany and beyond. It has started a debate about how to solve current crisis and structural democratic issues by proposing a future political framework for Europe.

Ehm …?!? - this was the reaction of the female Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when she was directed to her seat on the sofa rather than sitting in a chair next to the Turkish President Erdogan and the European Council President Charles Michel. This incident ignited heated discussions and #sofagate trended on twitter. While this could just be interpreted as a diplomatic faux pas, it may also trigger a discussion on the EU as a gender equality promoter. In this blog post, I explore how the self-proclaimed gender actor EU actually lives up to its own standards. I check whether the EU leads by example reviewing equal gender representation in the sphere of its common foreign and security policy.

In recent years, more and more countries labelled their foreign policies as “feminist”. Starting with Sweden, its Foreign Minister Margot Wallström announced her government’s feminist foreign policy in 2014. Canada, France and Mexico have also been prominent states that employ feminism to describe the nature of their initiatives and actions in the global arena. In addition, there have also been discussions and concepts to develop a feminist foreign policy for the European Union and the European Parliament even called on member states to adopt a feminist foreign and security policy. In this blog post I present the principles and ideas of how to implement a feminist foreign policy in the European Union.

Ever since Vladimir Putin became President, a U-turn in Russia’s foreign policy could be witnessed. The hopes about a democratizing and cooperative Russia with closer ties to the West turned into more troubled and hostile relations. Ranging from the annexation of Crimea in the Ukraine conflict to the determined support of Syrian President Assad, Russia has taken a more active and coercive role in neighboring regions. I argue that Russian President Putin’s rationale is shaped by a realist world view and that Russian actions are led by geopolitical interests in the near neighborhood and beyond. Further, I explore how it affects the EU’s role in the neighboring regions.

The rise of China and its fellow BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa challenge the post 1945 American led world order. In this post, I address the question to what extent the rise of China undermines the liberal international order by analyzing the Chinese effect on key internationalist principles.

The term ‘strategic autonomy’ is widely used in current discussions about the future of the European Union EU. It is prominently used by EU officials such as the HR/VP Borrell who sees it as a process of survival. This post focuses on explaining this shift towards a more geopolitical security and defense strategy by employing realist, liberal and critical lenses.

The agreement has raised multiple social and ecological concerns by NGOs, civil society as well as several governments in Latin America and in Europe. Among others, it is argued that the agreement would incentivize further deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as well as the weakening of local production in the developing economies in the Southern Cone. In this post, I will take a step back and widen the scope. I question the economic rationale of the agreement and try to identify the main European beneficiaries in France, Germany, Italy and Poland.