ABSTRACT
This book is about that European role in the world. Specifically, it addresses the question of the European Union (EU) as an emerging strategic actor. Mr. Prodi in the quote above speaks about the European countries, rather than the EU as such. One of the questions that the book poses is, however, how we should conceive of the European nations, as members of the EU. Does Italy represent the EU when it sends soldiers to Lebanon following the war between Israel and Hezbollah? Or does it just represent itself? Under what circumstances can we say that the EU acts as an independent actor in the global arena? Or is it always a more complex, composite actor?
