Jozef Bátora

Does the European Union Transform the Institution of Diplomacy

Diplomacy as a framework of principles, rules and organized patterns of behavior regulating interstate relations in the Westphalian system of states is challenged by the process of European integration. This paper conceptualizes diplomacy and its change using two new institutionalist perspectives that provide us with complementaryinsights into the nature of diplomacy as an institution. These are then applied to the study of diplomacy in the European Union. The process of European integration is shown as challenging the institution of diplomacy at three levels: a) the intra-European bilateral relations; b) the multilateral setting of the Council; and c) the emerging capacity of the EU to conduct external diplomatic relations with third states. The paper assesses change in and of diplomacy at these levels.Diplomacy as a framework of principles, rules and organized patterns of behaviour regulating interstate relations in the Westphalian system of states is challenged by the process of European integration. This article conceptualizes diplomacy and its change using two new institutionalist perspectives that provide us with complementary insights into the nature of diplomacy as an institution. These are then applied to the study of diplomacy in the EU. The process of European integration is shown as challenging the institution of diplomacy at three levels: (a) the intra-European bilateral relations; (b) the multilateral setting of the Council; and (c) the emerging capacity of the EU to conduct external diplomatic relations with third states. The article assesses change in and of diplomacy at these levels.

The ‘Mitrailleuse Effect’: The EEAS as an Interstitial Organization and the Dynamics of Innovation in Diplomacy

This article argues that the European External Action Service (EEAS) could be conceptualized as an interstitial organization – that is, an organization emerging in interstices between various organizational fields and recombining physical, informational, financial, legal and legitimacy resources stemming from organizations belonging to these different organizational fields. This interstitial status creates a situation in which there are different and sometimes conflicting organizational principles and practices introduced within the organization of the EEAS and different and sometimes conflicting sets of expectations in relation to the Service from actors within the organization as well as from outside. Based on empirical data collected in interviews with EEAS officials and study of official documents in 2011 and 2012, the article documents the interstitial nature of the EEAS. In broader terms, the emergence of the EEAS hence provides a fertile ground for studying patterns of institutional innovation in organizational fields via the establishment of interstitial organizations.

European Defence Agency: A Flashpoint of Institutional Logics

The European Defence Agency (EDA) works in a policy area traditionally characterised by high diversity among actors regarding basic notions of what level of integration and which principles of interaction in the defence sector are appropriate for the EU, which countries should participate in defence cooperation, and what coordination mechanisms and instruments should be used. In all these dimensions, the EDA has been a flashpoint of institutional logics representing different visions of how various aspects of defence integration in the EU should be organised. There are tensions between the logic of supranational regulation and the logic of intergovernmental networking; between the logic of defence sovereignty and the logic of pooled defence resources; between the Europeanist and the Euro-Atlanticist logic; and finally between the logics of liberalisation and Europeanisation of the defence market. Studying the ways in which the collisions of institutional logics are being accommodated by the EDA can contribute to greater understanding of the emerging political order of European defence.

Foreign Ministries and the Information Revolution: Going Virtual?

Anchored in new institutionalist approaches in political science, the book provides a comparative in-depth analysis of information technology effects in the foreign ministries of Canada, Norway and Slovakia.

Public Diplomacy Between Home and Abroad: Norway and Canada

Public diplomacy represents an opportunity for small and medium-sized states to gain influence and shape international agenda in ways that go beyond their limited hard power resources (related to size, military and economic strength). The literature on public diplomacy has been dominated by accounts of major powers, and the character of public diplomacy performed by small and medium-sized states has hardly been explored so far.Based on an elaboration of the concept of so power as being based on image and value assets of societal actors, this paper suggests a definition of public diplomacy as including activities by the state abroad and at home with the aim of increasing its attractiveness. Three areas in which the public diplomacy strategies of small and medium-sized states differ from the corresponding activities of major powers are then suggested. Finally, the development of public diplomacy strategies and their coordination by the foreign ministries of Canada and Norway — two countries with widely similar foreign policy agendas but different domestic constituencies — are then described and compared. The paper concludes by suggesting that successful public diplomacy by small and medium-sized states is well served by positioning the state not only in locally attractive image and value platforms, but also in their global equivalents.

EU-oriented bilateralism: evaluating the role of member state embassies in the European Union

The European Union (EU) constitutes an evolving diplomatic milieu characterized by high levels of interconnectedness among the politico-administrative apparatuses of member states. The article assesses whether the continued presence of member state bilateral embassies in the EU is residual and largely emptied of function, or whether they are adapting their role to new requirements in the EU policy environment. An analytical framework is developed conceptualizing diplomatic representation around three variables—function, access and presence—and two scenarios of change dynamics in the structures of bilateral diplomacy in the EU are proposed. These are then utilized to evaluate empirical evidence gathered in embassies of six member states in London and Vienna. The findings reveal a process of gradual ‘re-gearing’ of embassy functions towards EU matters, shifting patterns of communication and access, and ‘domestication’ of diplomatic presence in terms of personnel and agenda. Overall, this amounts to a shift towards EU-oriented bilateralism.

Europeanization of Foreign Policy: Whither Central Europe?

The entry of Central European (CE) countries into the European Union (EU) has been characterized by Europeanization understood as deep, broadbased, and regionally relatively coherent adaptation processes and socialization into a set of EU standards of policymaking and governance (Agh 1999; Schimmelfennig 2001; Sedelmeier 2001; Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier 2005; Fink-Hafner 2007). This chapter argues that foreign policymaking constitutes an important exception from this pattern, which not only calls for a rethinking of the concept of Europeanization, but also alerts us to the need to think of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as a policy domain characterized by local and varying patterns of adaptation in the member states.

EU-supported reforms in the EU neighbourhood as organized anarchies: the case of post-Maidan Ukraine

Abstract How does the EU and its member states organize their support for reforms in the countries of the EU Neighbourhood? Building on organization theory research on reforms as sets of loosely coupled ‘garbage can’ processes, we conceptualize the ENP induced reform processes as an organized framework connecting the reform capacities of not only the EU institutions but also EU member-state governments. We apply this approach to Ukraine in the post-Maidan period. We focus on the interplay between EU-level reform capacities and the capacities of two member states highly active in Ukraine, namely Germany and Sweden. As this case illustrates, the current approach provides a complementary perspective to mainstream approaches to the study of the EU’s external governance as it offers partial explanations of how organizational processes may impact on the efficiency of reforms promoted by the EU and its member states in the neighbouring countries.

Reinvigorating the rotating presidency: Slovakia and agenda-setting in the EU’s external relations*

ABSTRACT What scope and autonomy are available to a small member state holding the EU Presidency as regards shaping the agenda and influencing decision-making in the EU’s external relations? This article focuses on the case of the Slovak Presidency (SK PRES) of the Council of Ministers of the EU in the second half of 2016. Building on organization theory-inspired institutionalist approaches to studying practices in organizations, it examines how Slovakia sought to shape the EU’s external affairs agenda. Haugevik and Rieker have called for analyses of the balance between autonomy and integration of small member states in the EU’s governance order. This article is intended as a contribution to that end.

Cautious Surfers: The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Negotiates the Wave of the Information Age

Due to the ongoing information revolution, diplomats find themselves in an increasingly competitive information-intensive environment where they have to prove that they still are relevant and needed. The article explores this general development by detailing how the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has related to the technological challenge. Drawing on personal interviews with MFA staff, study of MFA documents including reports from Norwegian embassies and delegations, as well as participant observation, reasons for the relative tardiness and path-dependence in implementing IT-supported organizational change at the MFA are explored.