The EU Foreign Policy-making: Is the EU a “Real” International Actor?












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            * The EU Foreign Policy-making: Is the EU a “Real” International Actor?
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            What is modern day diplomacy? Is it simply governmental actors pushing agendas? Or it is b

            French professor and researcher Christian Lequesne (Sciences Po, Paris) visited Charles Un
            Faculty of Social Sciences, on October 23rd, 2015 to present these issues and discuss his 
            of the various forms of diplomacy.

            According to Lequesne, diplomacy is the art of negotiation, and how states use negotiation
            interests beyond their borders. These negotiations, and means of maximizing these interest
            forms. Modern diplomats do much more than negotiate at formal meetings. New age diplomacy 

            of new media, and often takes place through informal, less obvious stages.
            Lequesne divided his presentation into discussion of economic diplomacy and security diplo

            name suggests, economic diplomacy regards issues that impact international economic relati
            globalizing economy these issues have a huge impact on a states’ economic standing. In Fra
            depend on foreign investment. As nations develop, there are new actors in economic diploma

            imperative that diplomats are flexible and reactive.
            What sometimes becomes difficult in economic diplomacy is balancing public opinion and eco
            Lequesne illustrated this with a historical example of France being contracted by Russia t

            massive military boats. When the contract was originally agreed on France and Russia had g
            Unfortunately, by the time the boats were complete it was clear that they would be used in
            didn’t support. France was left with a difficult decision. Sell them the boats anyways and

            outrage or keep the boats, taking a huge financial hit, and end up with boats they don’t n
            they kept the boats, in this case the public opinion was deemed more important.
            This story raised numerous questions from the audience. Many students believed the public 

            always be prioritized because it is more likely morality based. Lequesne responded that di
            entirely on morals doesn’t exist. While it sounds nice, it is unreasonable in practice. An
            statement seemed cynical, I think it holds a lot of truth.

            The rest of Lequesne’s lecture considered diplomacy for a state’s security. Historically, 
            diplomacy was the primary focus of diplomacy. Since humans began settling in communities t
            been concerned about developing a sense of security, whether that be through building wall

            militaries. Nowadays our economic ties have diminished the need for as much focus on secur
            There are however still regional and collective security processes for security reasons, N
            EU, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to name a few.

            The point I founded most interesting about Lequesne’s section on security was his discussi
            weapons. Nuclear weapons, he claimed, are a new element of security. Nations don’t have th
            by having them they have security. They serve as deterrence.

            This event, and events like these, adds a lot to my Charles University experience. The opp
            pursue learning from and networking with experts outside of Charles University is exciting
            wanting to get the most out of their time here.
                                                                                                      
            Makenzie Muilenburg is an exchange student from Seattle, Washington in the United States s
            Faculty of Arts for winter semester. She is in her last year at her home university, the U
            Psychology and Business. In her free time she enjoys playing soccer, spending time with he
                                                                                                      
            excited to be a part of iForum, and is especially looking forward to working with other fo
            happenings of Charles University.