IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v7y2019i3p83-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The European Union and the Global Arena: In Search of Post-Brexit Roles

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Smith

    (Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK)

Abstract

This article explores the issues faced by the EU in developing its international roles post-Brexit, using a combination of discursive analysis and role theory to investigate the development and performance of roles in a number of linked arenas. Central to this analysis is the assumption that whatever form Brexit takes, the EU and the UK will remain closely entangled, and thus that the post-Brexit role assumed by the UK will shape the evolution of EU external action. But a key task for analysis is to place the impact of Brexit into the array of wider forces affecting EU external action, and this is a key aim of the article. The article begins by exploring the discourses of globalism characteristic of UK and EU foreign policies, as focused by the debates about ‘global Britain’ and EU global strategy since 2015. It then introduces a simple framework for considering the roles conceived and performed by the EU, and their potential impact in the post-Brexit world. The article then considers three areas of EU external action, and the ways in which they might be shaped by a post-Brexit world: trade and development, transatlantic relations and security and defence policy. The conclusion discusses the implications of the cases, especially in relation to the conversion of discursive role constructs into performable roles—a problem central to EU external action—and concludes that whilst the impact of Brexit will be significant, it is likely to be less fundamental than the impact of the challenges faced by the EU in the global arena more broadly.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Smith, 2019. "The European Union and the Global Arena: In Search of Post-Brexit Roles," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 83-92.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v7:y:2019:i:3:p:83-92
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v7i3.2133
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/2133
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/pag.v7i3.2133?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher Hill, 1993. "The Capability‐Expectations Gap, or Conceptualizing Europe's International Role," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 305-328, September.
    2. Toni Haastrup & Katharine A. M. Wright & Roberta Guerrina, 2019. "Bringing Gender In? EU Foreign and Security Policy after Brexit," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 62-71.
    3. Christilla Roederer-Rynning & Alan Matthews, 2019. "What Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 40-50.
    4. Sophia Price, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Development Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 72-82.
    5. Toni Haastrup & Katharine A. M. Wright & Roberta Guerrina, 2019. "Bringing Gender In? EU Foreign and Security Policy after Brexit," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 62-71.
    6. Whitman, Richard G., 2016. "The UK and EU Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after Brexit: Integrated, Associated or Detached?," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 238, pages 43-50, November.
    7. Christilla Roederer-Rynning & Alan Matthews, 2019. "What Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 40-50.
    8. Sophia Price, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Development Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 72-82.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Claire Dupont & Brendan Moore, 2019. "Brexit and the EU in Global Climate Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 51-61.
    2. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Trade Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 7-18.
    3. Toni Haastrup & Katharine A. M. Wright & Roberta Guerrina, 2019. "Bringing Gender In? EU Foreign and Security Policy after Brexit," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 62-71.
    4. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Policies," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 1-6.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul Copeland, 2019. "Why Brexit Will Do Little to Change the Political Contours of the European Social Dimension," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 30-39.
    2. Michael Smith, 2019. "The European Union and the Global Arena: In Search of Post-Brexit Roles," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 83-92.
    3. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Trade Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 7-18.
    4. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Policies," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 1-6.
    5. Paul Copeland, 2019. "Why Brexit Will Do Little to Change the Political Contours of the European Social Dimension," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 30-39.
    6. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Policies," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 1-6.
    7. Claire Dupont & Brendan Moore, 2019. "Brexit and the EU in Global Climate Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 51-61.
    8. Chris J. Bickerton & Bastien Irondelle & Anand Menon, 2011. "Security Co‐operation beyond the Nation‐State: The EU's Common Security and Defence Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 1-21, January.
    9. Merran Hulse, 2014. "Actorness beyond the European Union: Comparing the International Trade Actorness of SADC and ECOWAS," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 547-565, May.
    10. Theofanis Exadaktylos & Emanuele Massetti, 2023. "The EU at Crossroads: 2022 as a Turning Point Year?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(S1), pages 5-13, September.
    11. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Trade Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 7-18.
    12. Adrian Sadłowski, 2020. "The planned reform of the Common Agricultural Policy with particular reference to the direct support system," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 66(8), pages 381-390.
    13. Mai'a K. Davis Cross & Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski & Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski & Mai'a K. Davis Cross, 2017. "The EU's Power in the Russia–Ukraine Crisis: Enabled or Constrained?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 137-152, January.
    14. James Rogers, 2009. "From ‘Civilian Power’ to ‘Global Power’: Explicating the European Union's ‘Grand Strategy’ Through the Articulation of Discourse Theory," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 831-862, September.
    15. Henrik Larsen, 2020. "Normative Power Europe or Capability–expectations Gap? The Performativity of Concepts in the Study of European Foreign Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 962-977, July.
    16. Lucia Quaglia & Amy Verdun, 2024. "The Geoeconomics of the Single Market for Financial Services," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 1046-1062, July.
    17. Loredana Maria SIMIONOV & Gabriela Carmen PASCARIU & Nadiia BUREIKO, 2021. "Building resilience beyond the EU’s eastern borders. EU actorness and societal perceptions in Ukraine and Republic of Moldova," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 12, pages 250-272, August.
    18. Ömer UÐUR, 2016. "The Europranization of national Foreign Policies: The Examples og germany and France within the Framework of Ukraine Crisis," Turkish Economic Review, KSP Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 527-536, September.
    19. Jens-Uwe Wunderlich, 2012. "Comparing regional organisations in global multilateral institutions: ASEAN, the EU and the UN," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 127-143, July.
    20. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:48:y:2010:i::p:579-616 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Mišík, Matúš & Oravcová, Veronika, 2022. "Ex Ante Governance in the European Union: Energy and climate policy as a ‘test run’ for the post-pandemic recovery," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v7:y:2019:i:3:p:83-92. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.