ABSTRACT
Simon Schunz and Brice Didier are interested in understanding how the EU is responding to U.S. adjustment to a changing multipolar world. They find that the EU has gradually developed a novel role-set as “reliable partner,” which shapes its actual role performance. The EU’s strategic leitmotif of “principled pragmatism” implies that whenever it assesses certain accomplishments of the post-WWII order as particularly valuable, it will attempt to maintain them in partnership with those who are willing and able to do so. Hence, the EU wishes to adopt a more experimental stance on certain issues in order to explore new formats with other players.
