EUFOG

The liberal international order, i.e. the collection of norms, institutions and power relationships that have defined the last decades of international political and economic relations, is undergoing major transformations. Although the final destination of these changes is still to be seen, the situation is shaped by a return of competition between great powers in a multipolar world (US, China, EU and Russia), facilitated further by growing geopolitical ambitions of many regional powers. The doctoral network EUFOG will contribute to a better understanding of the ways in which the EU is reconsidering key tenets of its international role in the face of this geopolitical turn in international politics.

These developments should lead to a systematic overhaul of research about the international role of the EU. Over the past decades, the EU’s role in international politics was perceived through the prism of two assumptions. First, the external relations of the EU were understood as reflecting the kind of polity the EU was: an integration-through-law project, and a community of values. Support for multilateralism and the promotion of certain international norms were seen as the unproblematic externalization of internal consensuses. Second, even when the EU entertained projects of reform for the international order, they sought to strengthen its institutions and norms, in a moment when such strengthening was perceived as being broadly in line with the trajectory of international politics. This state of affairs has ceased to exist.

The EUFOG doctoral network will train a generation of scholars to enable them to address the politics (the political conflicts and debates), policies (decisions and measures) and partners (relationships and perceptions) associated with the ways in which EU foreign policy responds to these new international realities in a broad range of issue areas, from security to trade to human rights.

EUFOG offers an integrated three-year doctoral programme, providing world-class, interdisciplinary research and specialised training in social and political sciences, political economy, and communication, including research visits and secondments at associated partners, to bridge the gap between academic research and everyday policy practice.

EUFOG will forge an interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral network bringing together 17 industry-academia partners, including ten leading higher education institutions and seven key partners from a range of European and non-European countries. This network will provide an outstanding combination of academic and research-related competences and transferable skills that will deliver scientific excellence, occupational mobility, and training for lifelong learning.