Realism in the EU: Can a Trans-national Actor be Strategic?

The aim of this chapter is to examine some of the challenges that the EU faces in trying to act “strategically” in geopolitical spaces in close proximity and which have been traditionally sources of the fear and uncertainty that led to the reasons for the creation of the Union in the 1950s. We will focus on two areas that are particularly useful to illustrate the challenges the EU faces in being a strategic actor as well as the continuing or growing nationalization of foreign policy: its policy in the Balkans and the EU’s relations with Russia. Our argument is that both areas present not only foreign policy challenges but also existential issues that point to the EU’s lack of ontological security. They highlight the tension between the growing need to make strategic choices in both cases and remaining consistent with its narrative of a benign, normative power.