Books by Nicholas Wright
Untersucht die Hintergründe, Prozesse und Ziele des britischen und deutschen Engagements. Verwend... more Untersucht die Hintergründe, Prozesse und Ziele des britischen und deutschen Engagements. Verwendet eine Kombination aus detaillierter Dokumentenanalyse und Interviews. Zeigt die Dynamik auf, die den Beziehungen zwischen den einzelnen Staaten und der GASP innewohnt
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
New Perspectives in German Political Studies, 2019
This book examines the impact on member states of long-term foreign policy co-operation through t... more This book examines the impact on member states of long-term foreign policy co-operation through the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). Focusing on Germany and the UK, it provides an up-to-date account of how they have navigated and responded to the demands co-operation places on all member states and how their national foreign policies and policy-making processes have changed and adapted as a consequence. As well as exploring in depth the foreign policy traditions and institutions in both states, the book also offers detailed analyses of how they addressed two major policy questions: the Iranian nuclear crisis; and the establishment and development of the European External Action Service. The book’s synthesis of country and case studies seeks to add to our understanding of the nature of inter-state co-operation in the area of foreign and security policy and what it means for the states involved.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Articles by Nicholas Wright
International Affairs, Jan 9, 2023
Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has upended Europe's security order, with many observe... more Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has upended Europe's security order, with many observers calling it a turning point for the European Union. This article contends, however, that the EU's response has been less a turning point and more of an epiphany, providing a reality check for the EU and its member states about how far European foreign policy cooperation has evolved in recent decades. It suggests that an understanding of the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine requires consideration of the member states' foreign policy co-operation, which has intensified over the past half-century, and its underpinning norm which we term a ‘collective European responsibility to act’. In emphasizing this norm, we identify core ideas about the functioning of collective European foreign policy. We re-examine three key preoccupations of the EU foreign policy-making practice and assessment through the lens of the collective European responsibility to act and show how it enables a different and novel re-reading of the added value of EU foreign policy cooperation. The EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine thus serves as a timely focusing event that demands a rethink of the premises that have underpinned our analysis and understanding of collective European foreign policy-making over decades.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Renewal, 2022
The formation of a three-party, coalition government, led by the SPD, marks a genuinely historic ... more The formation of a three-party, coalition government, led by the SPD, marks a genuinely historic moment for Germany. Its programme is both ambitious and pragmatic, showing how compromise between competing political interests can offer potential solutions to the difficult problems facing the EU's largest and richest member state.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
European Security, Aug 25, 2021
The Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) is a transnational policy framework to deliver collec... more The Common Foreign & Security Policy (CFSP) is a transnational policy framework to deliver collective foreign policy and also to manage differences among member states. As such, it has always been dependent on their support. Since 2019, however, disagreement within this system is said to have reached a new level. Taking this political trend as our starting point, this article proposes a new, conceptual approach to understanding how contestation challenges the EU’s foreign policy cooperation system. While the majority of research focuses on disagreements in decision-making, we argue for a broader conceptualisation – systemic contestation. Drawing on norm contestation scholarship, we argue that systemic contestation manifests itself in two ways: as passive contestation, when member states disengage from and fail to take ownership of CFSP initiatives and their implementation; and as tacit contestation, when they fail to act when faced with the need to safeguard the system. This approach accounts for the transgovernmental character of the CFSP; and the central role of member states within it. Finally, we contend that our conceptualisation of systemic contestation offers promising new avenues for empirical research to understand the “black box” of EU foreign policy cooperation.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal of Common Market Studies, 2021
The Lisbon Treaty introduced far-reaching reforms for EU foreign policy cooperation. In the decad... more The Lisbon Treaty introduced far-reaching reforms for EU foreign policy cooperation. In the decade since, most scholarship has focused on the High Representative and EEAS. Far less consideration has been given to its consequences for member states' ownership of foreign policy. This article therefore examines how these institutional reforms have affected the Political and Security Committee (PSC), established to enable member states to better manage EU foreign policy cooperation. Drawing on new empirical data, it shows that the PSC has found its capacity to act as strategic agenda-setter increasingly constrained because of greater opportunities for activism by the HRVP and EEAS; and by the emergence of the European Council as the key arbiter in foreign policy decision-making. While this indicates the PSC today finds it harder to perform the role originally assigned to it, it is gaining alternative relevance through an emerging oversight role, which has implications for member states' EU foreign policy engagement.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Policy Brief, Jun 2021
This policy brief reviews the effects of the institutional adjustments in EU foreign policy as in... more This policy brief reviews the effects of the institutional adjustments in EU foreign policy as instigated by the Lisbon Treaty. It scrutinises the implications of these reforms for the distribution of power between member states and EU actors involved. Our analysis identifies two conflicting trends: on the one hand, an increased influence for EU institutions, with the notable exception of the Political and Security Committee whose position as strategic foreign policy linchpin is no longer certain. On the other, a partial weakening of the commitment of at least some member states to EU foreign policy cooperation.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
EUISS Policy Brief 2021/13, Jun 11, 2021
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 2020
Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the Europ... more Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the European Union (EU) the most institutionalised case of international cooperation amongst sovereign states, with the highest density of repeated diplomatic exchange. In a year, the Council of Ministers hosts on average 143 ministerial and 200 ambassadorial meetings, along with hundreds of working group meetings. These intense diplomatic interactions came to an abrupt halt in mid-March 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 forced the Council to approve-in a manner unprecedented in European integration history-the temporary derogation from its rules of procedures to allow votes in written form, preceded by informal videoconferences between ministers or ambassadors. This argumentative essay reflects on how we can use these extraordinary months of intra-European diplomacy to assess the viability of virtual diplomacy in the EU context and what lessons it provides as we seek more sustainable means of international engagement.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Political Perspective, 2011
The contested nature of the EU‟s role, status and impact as an international actor is clearly dem... more The contested nature of the EU‟s role, status and impact as an international actor is clearly demonstrated in the literature. From this three broad categories of analysis emerge: realist, civilian power and normative power.This article offers an analysis of each of these, rejecting the realist critique as too narrow and state-centric, and arguing that an approach based purely on an examination of the EU‟s capabilities is insufficient when seeking to explain its international actorness. Instead, it contends that the most appropriate basis for analysis is through a framework that draws on both the civilian and normative power approaches. These encapsulate both wherepower exists within the EU in terms of policy-making and policy instruments,and how it sets out to exercise this power in practice. To illustrate this, thearticle examines two important but contrasting areas of foreign policyactivity: economics, with a focus on regulatory and competition policy, andsecurity. These demonstrate that the EU has much greater scope to act,and a clearer international identity, in those policy areas where internalintegration is more advanced, but that even where not, the EU is stillcapable of significant if smaller-scale international interventions. It therefore argues that new, alternative approaches to analysis of the EU's international actorness are necessary that move beyond the state-centric paradigms that currently predominate.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
German Politics, May 3, 2018
Germany’s position as Europe’s predominant economic power has long been recognised. In recent yea... more Germany’s position as Europe’s predominant economic power has long been recognised. In recent years it has also emerged as a leading European foreign policy actor, although its willingness and capacity to play an explicit leadership role are debated. In particular, the ‘geo-economic’ analyses of Kundnani (The Paradox of German Power, 2014) and Szabo (Germany, Russia and the Rise of Geo-Economics, 2015) argue that German foreign policy is increasingly focused on narrow calculations of national interest resulting in a decline in the instinctive multilateralism that has characterised its international engagement since 1949. This article uses the German response to the current Ukraine crisis to contest these arguments. Examining both German engagement with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, a crucial component of its foreign policy-making, and its response to the Ukraine crisis, the article contends that far from becoming more unilateral, a more vigorous German multilateralism is emerging. This seeks to fully utilise all available multilateral channels and in turn reflects how far the centre of gravity in European foreign policy-making has shifted towards Berlin.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Oct 15, 2020
Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the Europ... more Can diplomacy work without physical presence? International relations scholars consider the European Union (EU) the most institutionalised case of international cooperation amongst sovereign states, with the highest density of repeated diplomatic exchange. In a year, the Council of Ministers hosts on average 143 ministerial and 200 ambassadorial meetings, along with hundreds of working group meetings. These intense diplomatic interactions came to an abrupt halt in mid-March 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 forced the Council to approve-in a manner unprecedented in European integration history-the temporary derogation from its rules of procedures to allow votes in written form, preceded by informal videoconferences between ministers or ambassadors. This essay reflects on how we can use these extraordinary months of intra-European diplomacy to assess the viability of virtual diplomacy in the EU context and what lessons it provides as we seek more sustainable means of international engagement.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Constitution Monitor, Jul 7, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Constitution Monitor, Mar 9, 2020
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Constitution Monitor, Nov 13, 2019
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
UCL European Institute Brexit Insights Paper, 2019
This Brexit Insights paper focuses on the politics of Brexit and Northern Ireland. It asks:
- Wh... more This Brexit Insights paper focuses on the politics of Brexit and Northern Ireland. It asks:
- Where do the different political parties in Northern Ireland stand?
- What is the current state of public opinion in Northern Ireland?
- What are the political ramifications of Brexit for Northern Ireland?
- What would be the implications of no deal?
- Is a border poll or Irish reunification likely?
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Constitution Monitor, No. 69, Jul 2018
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Constitution Monitor, No. 66, Jun 2017
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Prospect Magazine
The Commons has voted on Article 50 and the government has published a Brexit White Paper. Nichol... more The Commons has voted on Article 50 and the government has published a Brexit White Paper. Nicholas Wright explains what both things mean by Nicholas Wright / February 3, 2017
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Constitution Monitor, No.64, Oct 2016
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Books by Nicholas Wright
Articles by Nicholas Wright
- Where do the different political parties in Northern Ireland stand?
- What is the current state of public opinion in Northern Ireland?
- What are the political ramifications of Brexit for Northern Ireland?
- What would be the implications of no deal?
- Is a border poll or Irish reunification likely?
- Where do the different political parties in Northern Ireland stand?
- What is the current state of public opinion in Northern Ireland?
- What are the political ramifications of Brexit for Northern Ireland?
- What would be the implications of no deal?
- Is a border poll or Irish reunification likely?
- Where do the different political parties in Northern Ireland stand?
- What is the current state of public opinion in Northern Ireland?
- What are the political ramifications of Brexit for Northern Ireland?
- What would be the implications of no deal?
- Is a border poll or Irish reunification likely?
• What challenges will Brexit pose to British foreign policy-makers and institutions?
• What will be the future of UK-EU relations in the context of foreign, security and defence policy?
• What will Brexit mean for how the UK engages with the wider world, and particularly the wider multilateral system?
• And how can the UK government mitigate the risk of Brexit resulting in a significant loss of international influence, reducing the UK’s ability to defend, promote and pursue its interests globally?
constraining their policy approaches. This in turn raises important questions about the ability of individual states to exercise leadership in the context of complex multilateral organisations, and how such organisations shape and influence the practice of foreign policy.