Project

Learning and Change in European Foreign Policy: The case of the EU Special Representatives

Organisational learning is key in understanding the inner dynamics of European foreign policy. While some concepts have evolved in sociology and microeconomics, the subject is still understudied in international relations or European integration theories. This is deplorable as these theories explore the nexus between structure and agency on the sub-systemic level. They conceptualise individual learning experiences based on external events and how they have become internalised into foreign policies, as which they again impact on the international environment. Thus, to relate this approach and its findings to the dominating methods of European foreign policy analysis bears the expectation of promising theoretical conclusions. The goal of this study is twofold: First, it will draw conclusions on the validity of these learning theories. Second, it aims to judge their epistemological value for European foreign policy, i.e. what is the substance of what the EU has learned since it has become a major actor on the international scene. A case study will examine the role of the EU Special Representatives in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, looking broadly at the period of 1996 to 2007. The rising number and changing scope of responsibility of the Special Representatives clearly show the importance of this foreign policy instrument. As proxies of the EU’s foreign policy High Representative, they act and interact on a high political level. Furthermore, they are associated with the way the Union sees itself and so mirror exemplarily the worldview of this actor.

Expertise

Publications

2011

• Adebahr, Cornelius: Working inside out: what role for Special Envoys in the European External Action Service?,
• Adebahr, Cornelius: The Involuntary Union: European Economic Governance and the Union State, What the EU did next. Shorter Essays for a longer life

2010

• Adebahr, Cornelius: The European External Action Service: no longer the panacea but with long-term potential, Diplomatic Magazine, September 2010
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Strategy, not Bureaucracy: The role of the EU Special Representatives in the European External Action Service, DGAPanalyse kompakt, July 2010 N° 5
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Another round of horse-trading? The EU's new diplomatic service needs a strategic vision, Global Europe - www.globeurope.com
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Getting real: What instruments for the European External Action Service?, CFSP Forum, Vol. 8, N° 2

2009

• Adebahr, Cornelius: Think National Interest, Act European: A European “Union state” is inevitable—if Europe’s nation states hope to survive, Internationale Politik - Global Edition (Summer 2009)
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Learning and Change in European Foreign Policy: The Case of the EU Special Representatives, Baden-Baden: Nomos. 267 pp., ISBN 978-3-8329-4721-7

2008

• Adebahr, Cornelius: The Debate Goes On: Widening vs. Deepening – Europe between Enlargements, ACG Occasional Paper 2008/#2
• Adebahr, Cornelius: The First Will Be The Last: Why the EU Foreign Service will remain embryonic for some time, CFSP Forum Vol. 6, No. 2 (March 2008)
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Charging head on into the crisis – Europe as saviour of the nation state, in: Diplomatisches Magazin (August 2008)
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Organizational Learning in European Foreign Policy: The Role of the EU Special Representatives, Working Papers no. 01/2008, Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Comenius University, Bratislava

2007

• Adebahr, Cornelius / Giovanni Grevi: The EU Special Representatives: what lessons for the EEAS?, in: The EU Foreign Service: How to build a more effective common policy (EPC Working Paper No.28, Brussels, November 2007)
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Prüfstein Kosovo, DGAP-Standpunkt, September 2007
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Reform durch Lernen? Die Rolle der Sonderbeauftragten in der Europäischen Außenpolitik, in: Klaus Dieter Wolf (Ed.), Staat und Gesellschaft - fähig zur Reform? Baden-Baden: Nomos, p. 263-279

2006

• Adebahr, Cornelius: Wachstum für Weltgeltung - Die Bedeutung der Lissabonner Strategie für die Europäische Außenpolitik, DGAP-Analyse, November 2006
• Adebahr, Cornelius: Jenseits des Tellerrands: Plädoyer für eine neue außenpolitische Kultur in Deutschland, in: Internationale Politik, March 2006, p. 115-121

2005

• Adebahr, Cornelius: Wie international ist die Berliner Republik?, in: Berliner Republik, 03/2005, p. 75-79

2004

• Sven Hölscheidt / Adebahr, Cornelius: Die Finanzierung der Gemeinsamen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (GASP) der Europäischen Union, in: finanzReform 2004/2
• Adebahr, Cornelius / Maria Adebahr: Das Szenario „Europa 2015“: Von der ‚ungewissen Zukunft’ zur außenpolitischen Strategie, in: EuroMission - Neue Perspektiven für das erweiterte Europa. Daniel Dettling et al. (eds.), pp. 189-198
• Daniel Dettling / Thomas Gawlitta / Adebahr, Cornelius: EuroMission - Neue Perspektiven für das erweiterte Europa. Mit einem Vorwort von Günter Verheugen, Münster: LIT-Verlag

CV

Dr Cornelius Adebahr

Political Scientist and Entrepreneur

Competencies

• Strong interdisciplinary academic background: international politics, public law, and economics

• Business start-up and international work experience

• Leadership and teamwork skills

• Communication and foreign languages

Professional Career (Overview)

• Since Fall 2000: Independent entrepreneur; owner of Wirtschaft am Wasserturm – Political consultancy, project development, and training (Main occupation)

• Since January 2006: Programme officer at the research institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Belrin, a think tank and Germany’s main foreign policy platform

• Since Fall 2005: Visiting Lecturer at Erfurt University; teaching in the English-language Master programme of Erfurt School of Public Policy

• 2002 - 2003: Fellow of the Postgraduate Program in International Affairs of Robert Bosch Foundation and German National Merit Foundation, in cooperation with the German Foreign Office

Education

• 2005 – 2008: PhD graduation (Dr. rer. pol.), grade „magna cum laude“, Free University Berlin; dissertation on „Learning and Change in and London European Foreign Policy: The Case of the EU Special Representatives“; research stays at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and European Policy Centre (EPC)

• 1995 – 2001 Graduate studies of Political Science, Philosophy, International Economics and Public Law at Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (IEP „Sciences Po“), and Free University Berlin; grade “excellent”

• 1994 – 1995 Alternative Civilian Service at „Jugenddorf Eckernförde“, a Eckernförde home for mentally handicapped: nursing and caring services

• 1994 A-Level (“Abitur”) at Gymnasium Collegium Josephinum Bonn (classical language high school); overall grade „excellent“

Other Information

Professional website: http://www.adebahr.eu