Intellectual Background and Social Context:
In the recent years the EU has increasingly been studied as a particular kind of international actor with a focus on the ways in which its international policies are made and pursued. Such scholarly endeavors reflect both empirical importance and analytical challenge regarding the EU’s status as a global actor. Empirically, the EU carries importance in global economy, international diplomacy, soft security, and broader world order. Analytically, it poses major challenge by virtue of its status as a something more than an intergovernmental organization but less than a fully-fledged European state. Therefore a tendency has prevailed that the EU’s external behavior can be understood through a combination of understanding the EU’s sui generis qualities, and a reliance on the tools of comparative politics. Consequently, the subject of international relations of the European Union’ is a neglected one. This volume/book widens the perspective from ‘the EU as a global actor’ to ‘international relations and the EU’. This focus does not rule out consideration of the EU’s credentials as an international/global actor, rather it connects this issue to the broader study of IR and of international policy-making. Thus ‘International Relations and the European Union’ is about both the place of Europe in the world and the way the world contributes to the shaping of Europe. At the same time, it is about the place, actual and appropriate, of the EU in the academic subjects International Relations.

Previous Stages of Knowledge:
In general, the EU has drawn an extensive attention of the scholarly writings on its historical evolution, the process of integration, and the particular roles and functions of its institutions. But in terms of an international actor, the EU too often in the past has been dependent on some major event or policy, such