ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) from the perspective of realist international theory. It outlines the main assumptions and tenets of realism. The chapter provides an analysis and critique of the ENP from a realist perspective. It analyses the strategic and political objectives of the ENP in the European Union's (EU) southern and eastern neighbourhoods, and includes consideration of the Eastern Partnership. The chapter utilises a more differentiated concept of power drawn from Michael Mann's concept of the 'four sources of social power': economic, political, military and ideational. These four forms of power have different logics, dynamics and functions, and interact and overlap with each other, to create a complex mosaic of power relations within which the ENP operates. As a collective instrument for pursuing the common interests of its Member States in its neighbourhood, the EU's Neighbourhood Policy serves three major roles: security maximisation; milieu-shaping; and the pursuit of second order normative concerns.
