International Relations Theories Quiz

EU Institutions: Decision-Making Process

• The EU has seven main institutions: European Council, Council of the EU, European Commission, European Parliament, Court of Justice of the EU, Court of Auditors, and the European Central Bank.
• Key institutional milestones include the establishment of the ECSC institutions in 1952, the EEC and EURATOM institutions in 1957, the European Council in 1974, and the Court of Auditors in 1975.
• The first direct European Parliament elections took place in 1979, with the Single European Act in 1986, and the Maastricht Treaty in 1993.
• The European Central Bank became fully operational in 1998.
• Institutional reform objectives aim to address inefficiencies and improve leadership mechanisms, enhance democratic accountability, and increase decision-making effectiveness, particularly for the European Parliament and the Commission.

European Council (EC)

• The EC is composed of heads of state or government, the EC President, the Commission President, and the High Representative for CFSP.
• Responsibilities include providing political guidelines, determining foreign and security policy principles, and finding political solutions to EU challenges.
• The operational details of the EC include meetings four times annually, with the president elected for a 2.5 year term.

Council of Ministers

• This body is the primary decision-making institution.
• It comprises representatives from the 27 member states.
• It adopts regulations in conjunction with the European Parliament.
• Decision-making follows double-qualified majority voting rules, requiring 55% of member states representing 65% of the EU population.

European Commission

• The Commission is a supranational institution with one commissioner per member state.
• Core responsibilities include proposing and initiating regulations, implementing EU policies, managing the EU budget, and representing the EU internationally.
• Its institutional characteristic is political independence.
• The Commission's composition includes 720 members of the European Parliament, directly elected every five years.

Court of Justice of the EU

• The Court ensures uniform EU law interpretation.
• It guarantees legislative compliance and resolves judicial disputes.
• The structural details include one judge per member state, serving six-year terms with majority vote decision-making processes.

Policy-Making Characteristics

• Collaborative decision-making processes are emphasized.
• The increasing influence of the European Parliament and the expansion of the European Council engagement are key characteristics.
• The institutional structure is complex and multi-layered, with an emphasis on democratic representation and the ongoing evolution of institutions.

International Relations: Power, Hegemony, and Theoretical Perspectives

• Realism emphasizes power dynamics, emerging from WWII experiences and focusing on national interests and power politics.
• Key theorists include Morgenthau, emphasizing objective laws of power.
• Idealism, prominent between WWI and WWII, highlights international law, morality, and international organizations.

Power Dynamics in International Relations

• Power is defined as the ability to influence international events and enables effective bargaining and strategic manipulation.
• Long-term power elements include Gross Domestic Product (GDP), territory, geographic resources, political culture, population, education, science, and technology capabilities.
• Short-term power elements are military forces, military-industrial capacity, political legitimacy, and national loyalty.

International System Dynamics

• Key characteristics include anarchy, states relying on self-help mechanisms, alliances as primary stability mechanisms, and state sovereignty (absolute territorial control, limited external intervention, no global enforcement).
• The balance of power is a mechanism for maintaining international stability, involving counterbalancing state powers and strategic alliance formation.

Diplomatic Approaches and Strategic Techniques

• Rational power capacity development and multifaceted influence mechanisms are central.
• Deterrence, escalation strategies, and diplomatic leveraging are key strategic techniques.

International Organizations (IOs)

• IOs often transcend national boundaries affecting governmental and transnational actors.
• Distinct behavioral systems, established goals, procedural rules, and defined modes of interaction are common characteristics.
• Types include intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Examples are UN and NATO.

Historical State System Evolution

• The state system emerged, and evolved geographically from 1600s European Systems to include all continents by the 1900s.

Post-World War II European Recovery

• The Marshall Plan provided $12.5 billion in aid to 16 European nations from 1948-1951.
• The OEEC (Organization for European Economic Cooperation) coordinated aid distribution.
• NATO founding members were the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and more.

European Integration Process Foundations

• The Council of Europe (1949) aimed for greater unity among member states, reducing trade barriers, facilitating free movement of people, and establishing a common military framework.
• The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), established in 1951, aimed to create a common market and remove discriminatory production methods.
• The Treaties of Rome (1957) formed the European Economic Community (EEC).

1960s-1990s European Integration

• Major events included the Empty Chair Crisis (1965), the Luxembourg Compromise (1966), and the Maastricht Treaty (1993), which transformed the European Community into the European Union.
• Enlargement of the EU occurred between the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and beyond.

EU Development Challenges

• Important factors include economic disparities, varied national economic conditions, and the complex integration process.

EU Response Strategies

• The EU has strategies for managing migration, including enhanced border controls, anti-smuggling initiatives, and international cooperation efforts.

EU Policy Instruments

• EU policies are based on treaties in which primary sources include the Treaties (Maastricht, Amsterdam, Lisbon), case law of the European Court of Justice, and international agreements.
• Types of EU legal acts include regulations (mandatory for all member states and fully binding) and directives (require specific result accomplishment).

EU Competencies

• Exclusive EU competences fall under Article 3 TFEU and include customs unions, competition rules, monetary policies, and fisheries conservation.
• Shared EU competences, under Article 4 TFEU, include a single market, social policy, and economic cohesion.
• Supporting competences, under Article 6 TFEU, concern industry, culture, tourism, and education.

EU Governance

• Governance mechanisms involve the Council of the EU (overseeing) with Eurogroup, Commission, and European Parliament participation.
• EU policy principles include a budget surplus/balance and strict fiscal discipline with coordinated economic strategies.
• The EU has priority areas in education, such as student competence development, high-quality learning environments, pre-school education, special needs support, early school leaving reduction, and teacher professional development.

EU Enlargement

• The EU's enlargement process has faced challenges like economic disparities, varied national economic conditions, diverse democratic progress, and challenges to EU coherence.

Brexit

• Brexit involved the United Kingdom's departure from the EU. Stages of the separation had important milestones in 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2020.

COVID-19 Crisis

• The initial criticism of EU reactions to the COVID-19 crisis was a significant challenge.
• The EU's next generation recovery package provided a response.

Analyzing Foreign Policy

• Foreign policy is defined as the process of governmental decision-making involving actions taken to influence global interactions.
• Foreign policy models include rational choice, organizational process, and bureaucratic politics.
• In general, foreign policy is very complex, and considerations of multiple perspectives are important.

Europeanization Concept

• EU development comprises an incremental process.
• Reorienting political dynamics, integrating European political and economic dynamics into national systems, are critical components.

Understanding Europe

• Factors to consider include the historic context of European state systems, nation-state development, cultural complexity, indigenous minorities, minority groups, international and regional organizations, and the Europeanization concept. This includes theoretical perspectives, and various viewpoints on integration.