International Politics Shaped by the EU: A Critical Analysis of the European Common Foreign and Security Policy

This article seeks to conduct a critical analysis of the place the EU currently occupies on the international scene and how it uses its central position to shape international politics in order to promote international peace and security. For this purpose, it will firstly provide the reader with a general overview of the CFSP and how the Lisbon treaty changed the EU’s functioning in this field. Secondly, taking the EU-Russia relations as a starting point, this paper will evaluate the means the EU employs to achieve its CFSP goals. Thirdly, it will seek to predict the possible future of the EU role as a unitary political actor in the global fora.