Leadership in EU foreign policy: A social role theory analysis

• Leadership in and of foreign policy has received surprisingly little theoretical attention by scholars interested in the collective action problem in multilateral EU foreign policy. This paper addresses this conceptual void and offers a framework of analysis that builds on social role theory. Central to this framework is the concept of leadership as a relational activity involving learning, socialization and trust between leader and followers. This analytical dimension is central to explaining both the internal and external leadership problems in EU foreign policy. As a social role, European leadership requires recognition by internal stakeholders and external actors in global politics. It is from this baseline that role expectations and role prescriptions of leadership emanate and on which the social role of leader can evolve and become meaningful. Rather than treating leadership as either exclusively structural or actor-specific, this paper argues that social role theory provides a bridge across the divide between theories of International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

EU

leadership

foreign policy

social role theory

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)