Bulletin n. 1/2009
July 2009
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Seeberg Peter
    The EU as a realist actor in normative clothes: EU democracy promotion in Lebanon and the European Neighbourhood Policy
    in Democratization , vol. 16, n. 1, February - Special Issue: THE EUROPEAN UNION'S DEMOCRATIZATION AGENDA IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: A CRITICAL INSIDE-OUT APPROACH ,  2009 ,  81-99
    The article takes recent research on the difficulties for the EU in successfully promoting democracy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as its point of departure, with a specific focus on the European Neighbourhood Policy EU-Lebanon Action Plan. It is shown that, in spite of the fact that Lebanon does not present the same authoritarian institutions and character as most of the other countries in the region, the EU seems to have difficulties dealing with the political realities of Lebanon. This has to do with its consociational system and the existence of political elites in Lebanon, who see avoiding another breakdown of the political system as the decisive political issue. In addition, the existence of a 'dual power' situation, where two sources of authority are competing for power and legitimacy, constructs a Lebanese reality which the EU chooses to address by neglecting its own normative, democracy promotion ambitions. The article concludes that the vagueness and inconsistency of EU policies in Lebanon cannot only be explained by tactical considerations, but also imply that the EU pursues a realist agenda: in other words it is a realist actor dressed in normative clothes.
    ©2001 - 2020 - Centro Studi sul Federalismo - P. IVA 94067130016