JOINT Papers

JOINT Effectiveness Checklist for EU Foreign and Security Policy in Conflict and Crisis Situations

The JOINT Effectiveness Checklist provides a comparatively simple framework for policy-makers and researchers to analyse the effectiveness of the EU’s response to conflicts and crises. It adds value to existing evaluation tools by a) assessing effectiveness relative to the level of difficulty of the policy environment, and b) adapting and further developing existing standard policy […]

JOINT Papers

How to Reduce the Impact of Internal Contestation, Regional Fragmentation and Multipolar Competition on EU Foreign and Security Policy

In a Union of 27 member states, differences in (geo)political interests, socio-economic realities, historical trajectories and national identity construction constantly threaten the internal unity and thus also the external coherence of EUFSP. The following three factors and their mutually reinforcing interplay appear to have a significant impact on the creation and shaping of EU foreign […]

JOINT Papers

Tackling the Constraints on EU Foreign Policy towards Ukraine: From Strategic Denial to Geopolitical Awakening

This report explores the evolution of EU policy towards Ukraine, with major turning points occurring in 2004, 2014 and February 2022 when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started. The dominant constraining factor in the case of Ukraine was multipolar (or rather bipolar) competition between the EU and Russia over the European political, economic and security […]

JOINT Papers

Framing Public Perception of the Challenges to the EU Foreign Security and Defence Policy. Focus Groups as a Method of Investigation

This report presents the results of twelve focus groups carried out in six European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain) and addressing topics of concern for the study of EU foreign security and defence policy. In particular, participants were engaged in discussions on three main topics: (1) the most pressing international challenges and […]

JOINT Papers

A Joined-Up Union, a Stronger Europe. A Conceptual Framework to Investigate EU Foreign and Security Policy in a Complex and Contested World

Fractious domestic debates, the fragmentation of regional politics and growing interstate competition all affect the capacity of the EU to forge a joined-up and sustainable foreign and security policy (EUFSP) in crises and conflicts. The problem is amplified by EUFSP governance structures, which have evolved irregularly, with a multiplicity of actors resorting to an increasingly […]

JOINT Papers

Inventory of EUFSP-related Public and Elite Opinion Surveys

This study offers an inventory of elite and public opinion surveys on EU foreign and security policy (EUFSP). It first provides an analytical overview of the most relevant literature and data on the topic while exploring the theme of foreign and security policy from the angle of political elites’ attitudes and beliefs. In the second […]

JOINT Briefs

The EU Strategic Compass: A Blueprint for a European Defensive and Securitisation Policy

On 21 March 2022, the Council of the European Union released the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence.[1] The document provides a thorough assessment of international affairs and is meant to guide the development of the EU security and defence agenda for the next decade. The Strategic Compass has been hailed as a framework for […]

JOINT Briefs

The War in Ukraine and Studying the EU as a Security Actor

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the most serious conflict on the European continent since the Balkan wars of the 1990s, if not since World War II. The amount of military and civilian casualties, displaced persons and material destruction after two months of war is astonishing. Unlike the Balkan wars, the direct involvement […]

JOINT Papers

Multipolarity and EU Foreign and Security Policy: Divergent Approaches to Conflict and Crisis Response

Growing multipolar competition affects the ability of the EU and its member states to formulate and implement common action on crises and conflicts. The effort by the “international community” to ensure global security and peace is weakening due to a divergence in the approaches to crises and conflicts by the major powers, which are often […]

JOINT Papers

Collateral Damage: How EU Internal Policies Shape Crises and Conflict Abroad

Europe is increasingly affected by conflicts in its neighbourhood, but its ability to prevent and resolve them remains limited. This dilemma underlines the need for European foreign and security policy to make optimal use of tools, assets and resources available. The EU’s main framework to do so, the Integrated Approach to Conflicts and Crises, emphasises […]

JOINT Papers

Regional Fragmentation and EU Foreign and Security Policy

There is broad academic consensus on the fact that the fragmentation of regions presents a significant challenge for the EU. Fragmentation undermines the authority of central states, the EU’s most natural counterparts, and distributes it amongst a great number of actors – including non-state armed groups. To address fragmentation, the EU should increase coordination between […]

JOINT Papers

The Internal Contestation of EU Foreign and Security Policy

A Literature Review of the Implications of Intra-EU Contestation on Crises and Conflicts Abstract: A certain amount of political disagreement and internal debate within the member states has always been part of EU (foreign and security) policy-making. Over the past few years, however, domestic actors have fundamentally challenged, undermined and even reversed established EU norms, […]

Newsletter

Subscribe to not miss our updates on our research outputs, events, and policy recommendations

    * Required fields


    JOINT will hold and process your data in accordance with the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018