Spyros Economides

The Europeanisation of Greek Foreign Policy

The Europeanisation of national foreign policy through EU membership is a widely accepted process. How and why this process takes place is more debatable. In the context of Greek foreign policy, the process of Europeanisation has been long and tortuous, and has been primarily driven from within. EU membership has had a Europeanising influence on Greek foreign policy through adaptation to practices, norms and behaviour, and Greek policy-makers have undergone a degree of socialisation. But, for the most part, the Europeanisation of Greek foreign policy has taken the form of the projection of national interests and policy preferences onto the European level in a variety of ways and at a variety of times since Greek accession in 1981. This article suggests that the Europeanisation of Greek foreign policy has taken the form of Westernisation, modernisation, normalisation, rehabilitation, denationalisation and multilateralisation, to suit particular needs at particular times.

‘Pre‐Accession Europeanization’: The Case of Serbia and Kosovo

This article argues that there is much confusion surrounding Serbias landmark decision to engage in a process of normalization with Kosovo. Rather than undergoing a process of Europeanization, whereby a fundamental transformation in the underlying rationale and processes of decision-making occurred, as some have argued, the changes in Serbias policy are in fact based on material concerns. By tracing relations in the EU-Serbia-Kosovo triangle, the article shows that change in Serbias approach towards Kosovo is based on pragmatism and political opportunism, rather than absorption, adaptation, convergence or identity formation. What we have witnessed is a more short-term, interest based policy shift serving very specific economic purposes. In conceptual terms, this is better understood as a policy of rationally instrumental ‘pre-Accession Europeanization’ rather than as a process of adaptive normative Europeanization as more conventionally understood in the literature.

Kosovo: four futures

The recent opinion by the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovos declaration of independence has not provided a definitive answer to Kosovos status. The International community remains divided. For this reason, a political solution will need to be found. Possible scenarios for the future of Kosovo include continuation of the status quo; enforcing Pristinas full authority across all of Kosovo; partition or partial territorial readjustment between Kosovo and Serbia; or some form of extended autonomy for northern Kosovo. While each of the models has its advantages and drawbacks, on balance the case for some form of extensive autonomy or a territorial readjustment remain the most compelling options for resolving the conflict in a manner most acceptable to Belgrade and Pristina, and which would open the way for Kosovo to gain wider, if not full, international acceptance.

Standards before Status before Accession: Kosovo's EU Perspective

Although Kosovo has been recognized by most members of the European Union, there are still five states that refuse to accept its unilateral declaration of independence. Kosovos ‘European perspective’ would therefore appear to be hampered by its contested status. However, this paper argues that while the dispute over its independence is significant, and certainly makes establishing relations with the EU more difficult than might otherwise have been the case, it is not as problematic as it may appear. For the meantime, Kosovo remains a long way away from meeting even the most basic requirements for formal EU integration. At this stage, the key task facing the EU is state building. Somewhat paradoxically, this has not required a united position on status. Even in the medium term, the question of status need not be an impediment to Kosovos EU integration in a range of areas. Even in those instances where a formal relationship needs to be established, there are ways in which this can be managed. Indeed, this paper argues that only when Kosovo is ready for full EU membership would its contested status become a wholly decisive issue for its ‘European perspective’.

Kosovo, Self-Determination and the International Order

Yugoslavias wars provide a rich example of the range of challenges posed to international stability and fundamental principles of international relations since 1989. Within this context, Kosovos independence has now become a cause celebre of the use of the principle of self-determination in state-creation. In addition, the case of Kosovo is an important development in the practice of humanitarian intervention and by implication the evolution of the concept of the Responsibility to Protect. To better understand the effects of Kosovar claims to self-determination on international order, a clearer understanding is required of the factors shaping that order and how self-determination (as it emerges from the road to Kosovos independence) relates to those factors. The issue of ‘self-determination after Kosovo’, is placed here into both the context of Yugoslavias collapse and a number of broader key features which could be said to have played a dominant role in shaping international order post-1989.

The making of a failed state: the case of Kosovo

The status of Kosovo remains an issue more than three years after its unilateral declaration of independence. Since then, Kosovo has been maintained, as a state, by an international presence and commitment. This article suggests that the history of this commitment has been the cause of state failure and that we are at a critical juncture in the future of this state.

The International Criminal Court: reforming the politics of international justice

The International Criminal Court (ICC) came into effect on 1 July 2002. This article gives an account of the historical background to the ICC and an overview of the Courts Statute, remit and powers. It is argued that the ICC is a highly politicized legal institution which will only be effective through inter-state cooperation. Despite its lengthy historical antecedents and legal precedents, prudence suggests that — due to the nature of international politics — the establishment of the ICC should be viewed as the beginning of a cumulative process of reforming the politics of international justice rather than the end of a process of transformation in international law.

The Greek and Spanish civil wars: A comparison

In contemporary Europe, the complacent consensus of the victory of liberal democratic values and principles in international relations has been shattered by the tragic and bloodthirsty conflicts of ex‐Yugoslavia, which at least in part could be characterized as civil wars. Similarly, in the short timespan of 10 years at the middle of the twentieth century, and straddling the Second World War, civil conflict in Spain and Greece shattered many illusions as to how international relations could and should be conducted.

EU security strategies: extending the EU system of security governance

This volume offers a coherent analysis of the European Union’s security strategies within a comparative framework. If the EU is to survive and prosper as an effective security actor, it requires that greater attention be devoted to taking a cohesive and common position on the relationship between EU foreign policy means and goals. The major claim of this edited collection is that there is a European grand security strategy that disciplines member state security strategies. That grand strategy has two distinct substantive goals: (1) the preservation and expansion of the EU system of security governance; and (2) the implementation of specific strategies to meet internal and external threats and sources of insecurity. The EU has sought to develop a grand security strategy that not only accounts for the proliferation of threats possessing a military or non-military character and differentiates between core and peripheral regions of interest, but also addresses the requirements to bridge the increasingly blurred boundary between internal and external security threats and the necessary reconciliation of the competing security preferences of its member states. The empirical contributions to this volume examine the EU security strategies for specific issue areas and regional threat complexes. These case studies assess whether and how those strategies have consolidated or expanded the EU system of security governance, as well as their successes and limitations in meeting the security threats confronting the EU and its member-states. This volume will be of great interest to students of EU policy, foreign policy, security studies and IR.