The European Union as a Small Power

Asle Toje

Journal of Common Market Studies, 2011, vol. 49, issue 1, 43-60

Abstract: With the creation of a common foreign and security policy (CFSP), the EU has entered the realm of power politics. Although the ambition to become a great power has been frequently reiterated, the EU has often failed to deliver stated policy objectives. This article has two broad goals. One is to outline the strategic behavioural patterns of small powers. The lack of scholarly attention to these states – the largest group in the international system – is a major omission from the International Relations canon. The other is to see how EU patterns of behaviour, exemplified in attempts to build up capacities for military intervention, overlap with those of a small power. The article argues that the concept of a small power best captures the reality of the EU as a strategic actor. Consequently, the EU is more comparable to other small powers such as Sweden or Argentina rather than to great powers such as China or Russia.

Date: 2011
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