15.12.2020
Abstract
Progressive realism as a new concept for more penetrating power of Europe’s foreign policy after the Corona crisis. How success values can bring back the Union to the winning street.
Does Europe need more hammers to hit dangerously protruding nails into the ground or should it just be more cautious and better avoid sharp objects at all? Not wanting to spend too much time dealing with things that might hurt someone is never wrong, but to spend some money in materials that make it possible to construct some tools being useful in times of a crisis is neither. This is why this paper argues that Europe needs to adapt its foreign policy concept to the not necessarily peaceful 21. century by adding some aspects of hard power and realistic thinking to its current soft power approach, ending up as smart power. The article will therefore follow a concept called Progressive realism and examine the possibilities of future cooperation with the rest of the world by identifying so called success values, meaning aspects of shared interest between Europe and the respective partner.
About the author
Stefan Drexler is a political scientist with a focus on the electoral performances of center-right parties in Europe and political demography. He holds a BA in Political Science from Passau University and a MA in International Relation from Andrássy University Budapest and currently does his doctorate under a cotutelle scheme at both universities. He was a scholarship holder of the Hanns-Seidel Foundation and has worked in Brussels as a trainee for the EPP group and chairman Manfred Weber MEP.
#Covid19 #debatingEurope #EUglobalstrategy #smartpower #Progressiverealism #successvalues
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