ABSTRACT
Examining descriptions of Europe’s role in the world provides fascinating insights into how it changes and oscillates over time. Looking at such analyses written at 20-year intervals is even more telling. In 1982, Hedley Bull wrote, ‘“Europe” is not an actor in international affairs, and does not seem likely to become one …’ By 2002 Ian Manners suggested that Europe, through the EU, was redefining ‘what can be “normal” in international relations. Rather than being a contradiction in terms, the ability to define what passes for “normal” in world politics is, ultimately, the greatest power of all’. Alston and Weiler considered that the EU could only enjoy the leadership role to which it aspires through the example it sets; in this vein, leading by example should be the leitmotif of the EU’s human rights policy. In 2022, 20 years later, Ivan Krastev criticised Europe’s naiveté and argued that ‘Europe’s cherished conviction that economic interdependence is the best guarantee for peace has turned out to be wrong’. Through these perspectives, we zoom out to explore Europe’s global role and resonance.
