Presenting a critical overview of what 'emerging multipolarity' means for the world's foremost global trading bloc and economic power, the European Union, this book offers new insights into how the rise of the emerging economies has impacted the EU and its role within the World Trade Organization.

This book considers the effect of China’s unprecedented economic growth and more prominent geopolitical role in the twenty-first century. Rising powers considerably alter international relations, leading to the emergence of a multipolar world order that impacts more traditional international players like the European Union (EU). China’s growing economic and diplomatic influence is particularly relevant in Africa, where it presents an alternative to conventional North-South relations and proposes a new type of South-South partnership. Stahl examines the EU’s foreign policy response regarding China’s growing presence in Africa, as well as the EU’s attempts to refocus attention on the African continent. Drawing on a rich body of evidence collected through fieldwork in China and Africa, and extensive expert interviews, the author sheds light on the novel trend of EU-China-Africa trilateral relations. The book offers a new analytical framework for the study of the EU’s foreign policy of engagement with emerging powers and will appeal to graduate students and scholars interested in the EU’s international role, international relations and development, as well as contemporary Chinese and African studies.

This paper reappraises Normative Power Europe theory in light of the possible changes that a future multipolar order may bring about. If - and 'if' should still be stressed at present - the world is heading towards multipolarity between states such as the US, China, India and Brazil and entities such as the EU what consequences will this have for NPE theory? If the 'rules' of this multipolar order are set to be cast in “Westphalian” terms, does this necessarily preclude the EU from participating in such an order? If the EU is not to play by these 'rules', is NPE robust enough to weather the storms that will potentially gather with the ascendency of states with no automatic loyalty to traditional Western economic and political norms? If it is willing to play by these 'rules', will this pressure the EU into a serious rethink not just on its strategy but on the tools it will require to secure its position in a multipolar world?

Euro-Atlantic system, and especially the relationship between the US and the European Union and NATO cooperation with the EU, despite the difficulties, are and will be one of the most important elements in the process of building a new global multipolar order. However, the United States and the European Union should pursue a more correlated international policy, based on a realistic and idealistic vision of the world. The world needs the Euro-Atlantic community, as there is no and there won't be in the near future such integrated community of values and interests in the new emerging global order. The above problems are describe in this monograph, which was written in the framework of the research project called: "The role of the Euro-Atlantic system in a multipolar world in the context of the emerging new global order."

Will the increased economic connectivity across the Eurasian supercontinent transform Europe into the western peninsula of Greater Eurasia? The unipolar era entailed the US organising the two other major economic regions of the world, Europe and Asia, under US leadership. The rise of “the rest”, primarily Asia with China at the centre, has ended the unipolar era and even 500-years of Western dominance. China and Russia are leading efforts to integrate Europe and Asia into one large region. The Greater Eurasian region is constructed with three categories of economic connectivity – strategic industries built on new and disruptive technologies; physical connectivity with bimodal transportation corridors; and financial connectivity with new development banks, trading currencies and payments systems. China strives for geoeconomic leadership by replacing the US leadership position, while Russia endeavours to reposition itself from the dual periphery of Europe and Asia to the centre of a grand Eurasian geoeconomic constellation. Europe, positioned between the trans-Atlantic region and Greater Eurasia, has to adapt to the new international distribution of power to preserve its strategic autonomy.

This book seeks to help shape the debate surrounding power and polarity in the twenty-first century, both by assessing the likelihood of US decline and by analysing what each of the so-called 'rising powers' can do. As the twenty-first century moves out of its first decade, American supremacy continues to generate intense debate about the nature, quality and sustainability of US power. At the same time, significant developments in four rising powers - China, Russia, India and the European Union – have provoked analysts to ask whether multipolarity is a realistic prospect. Multipolarity in the 21st Century assesses the likelihood of a multipolar world developing, either by a marked US decline and or by the ability of these putative ‘rivals’ to continue to rise to the level necessary to be credibly considered a superpower. Written by a combination of emerging scholars and recognised experts, this volume will provide a timely and authoritative analysis of one of the most controversial and compelling security debates of the twenty-first century. This book will be of much interest to students of Security Studies, Foreign Policy and International Relations in general.