The EU’s Strategic Unconsciousness and Normative Hubris

Abstract

The period from the end of the Cold War to the onset of the financial crisis and the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 can be thought of as one of strategic unconsciousness. This was also a period in which the EU was guided by the belief in its normative power and post-modern attractiveness. The popular assumptions underlying The End of History only encouraged the assumption the liberal democracy had triumphed and that for the EU it was sufficient to rely upon itself as exemplar to drive its external actions. The Union’s flagship external policy towards its neighbourhood to the east and to the south was an expression of triumphalism, not strategy. The combination of strategic unconsciousness and normative hubris not only contributed to an existential crisis in the Union’s external actions, but also raised broader questions about the role and purpose of integration.