ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book begins with the observation that the study of contemporary European foreign policy increasingly requires the combination of multiple levels of analysis. It demonstrates that the network approach is particularly well suited for modelling the increasing multiplicity, diversity and interdependence of actors across the national, transnational and international levels of analysis. The book provides new empirical insights into the question who makes European foreign policy and how. It illustrates that by combining structural analysis with rational choice assumptions, multilevel network theory is able to explain which actors would exert pressure on others and when actors would change their preferences and coalition in response to this pressure. It presents three case studies which suggest that neither national, transnational nor international actors dominate the European foreign policy making process.