A liberal grand strategy in a realist world? Power, purpose and the EU’s changing global role

-
Researcher: Michael E. Smith
Publisher: Journal of European Public Policy

The European Union (EU) is one of the most unusual global political actors, and it inspires numerous scholarly debates about its power and purpose. One of the most important such debates involves the role of material versus non-material/ideational power resources – or hard versus soft power – in understanding the EU’s ‘actorness’. Given the increasingly wide range of EU policy competencies, and the increasingly complex  demands placed on the EU, this article embeds this debate in the larger context of grand strategy. It first argues that the EU’s efforts as a global actor do conform to three basic components of grand strategy: physical security; economic prosperity; and value projection. Second, it analyses the content of the EU’s grand strategic goals at three levels of analysis: intra-EU; regional (or neighbourhood); and global. Finally, it analyses the EU’s implementation of its (largely liberal) strategic goals, particularly in terms of how they might compete with those of other global actors, such as the United States (US).

Strategi induk liberal dalam dunia realis? Kewenangan, tujuan dan perubahan peran global Uni Eropa

Uni Eropa (EU) adalah salah satu pelaku politik global yang unik, dan keberadaannya memberikan inspirasi munculnya sejumlah perdebatan para ahli tentang kewenangan dan tujuannya. Salah satu perdebatan yang paling penting ialah benturan peran sumber daya material dengan sumber daya non-material/ideasional - atau kewenangan keras melawan kewenangan lunak - di dalam memahami 'kepelakuan' yang ditunjukkan oleh EU. Dengan semakin luasnya kompetensi kebijakan EU, dan semakin kompleksnya tuntutan yang dibebankan kepada EU, penelitian ini membahas perdebatan yang terjadi dalam konteks 'grand strategy' (strategi induk) yang lebih luas. Argumen pertama berhubungan dengan usaha-usaha Uni Eropa sebagai pemeran global yang benar-benar sejalan dengan tiga komponen dasar dari strategi induk, yakni keamanan fisik (physical security); kesejahteraan ekonomi (economic prosperity); dan proyeksi nilai (value projection). Kedua, penelitian menganalisis tentang muatan dari sasaran-sasaran strategi induk Uni Eropa pada tiga level analisis: intra-EU; regional (atau negara tetangga); dan global. Terakhir, penelitian berusaha menganalisis implementasi sasaran-sasaran strategis (yang sebagian besar bersifat liberal) yang dimiliki oleh EU, khususnya dalam hal bagaimana Uni Eropa dapat bersaing dengan para pelaku global lainnya, misalnya Amerika Serikat

Popular posts from this blog

Healthcare Waste in the United States Healthcare System

-
How America will pay for healthcare is a subject on the mind of virtually every American today. As Congress determines who will pick up the tab for this important and growing expense, it is worthwhile to take a close look at the cost of healthcare itself. Are there areas where expenses can be cut without undermining the quality of care provided? How prevalent are misuse, overuse, and fraud? This paper tackles the tangled issue of healthcare waste and arrives at some interesting, and perhaps even surprising, conclusions: America’s healthcare system is, indeed, hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the opportunities to slow the fiscal bleeding are substantial. To organize the evidence supporting claims for the magnitude of waste in the healthcare system,we first suggest a set of categories of waste. For each category, there is a simple definition, a brief description of the examples, and references that allow us to make a reasonable assessment of total annual waste for each category. Ca
Read more

International Forestry LawReducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and decentralized forest management

-
Authors: Irawan, S.; Tacconi, L The implementation of a mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD - plus) will be affected by governance conditions within host countries. The top eight countries, which are responsible for 70 percent of the world's total annual deforestation, have implemented certain forms of decentralization in public administration and forest management. This paper analyzes implications of decentralized forest management for the implementation of REDD. Three possible options for the involvement of local governments in the implementation of REDD are: 1) the central government decides on a national reference level and devolves the implementation to local governments; 2) the central government decides on a national reference level and seeks expressions of interest from local governments to implement REDD in their administrative areas; and 3) the central and local governments decide on a national reference level jointly and loc
Read more

A study of drinking water quality of PDAM

-
One of problems faced by community dealing with water services provided by the State-owned Water Company (PDAM) is inadequacy of the services in fulfilling household needs. Customers often complain because this limited volume of water they can use for daily activities, such the research found in a service quality analysis of drinking water provided by PDAM. The study on service quality may have its cornerstones on three main aspects: the quality, quantity, and continuity.  In case of drinking water quality at the observed location, one should relate it to the quality threshold under the Letter of Decree of the Minister of Health Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Kepmenkes RI, No.907/MENKES/SK/VII 2002, which has been applicable since July 28, 2002. In addition, there is also another technique of analysis to measure the water quality level by examining water debit, water pressure, and flow continuity. However, to deal with PDAM’s vision and mission, service quality analysis is lik
Read more