Foreign Policy Analysis in the Time of European Political Integration. Structural Realism and Europeanization - An Attempted Synthesis?

The subject of this article is a critical reflection on how to analyse contemporary foreign policy. In times of ever-faster globalisation and deepening European integration two questions appear to be particularly important: to what extent are the classic(al) methods of explaining and analysing foreign policy still relevant? Are new theoretical concepts needed that are functional and useful?             To accomplish the task described above, structural realism, as one of the major theories of international relations, has been juxtaposed with the very popular concept of Europeanization. Following this path, the relevant literature, consisting predominantly of Kenneth Waltz’s works published after the end of the Cold War and the creation of the EU, has been reviewed and analysed. As for Europeanization, materials devoted to the specific issue of its impact on the foreign policies of European states and the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy as a whole has been used. To summarise, the attempt to combine and synthesize structural realism and the concept of Europeanization has been undertaken in search for an optimal (in a cognitive and explanatory aspect) method of analysing the foreign policies of EU Member States.