A brighter take on Euro-diplomacy

For believers in the potential of Euro-diplomacy, this blog has been a downer recently. I’ve worried about the EU’s ability to lead on Bosnia. I’ve also cast doubt on the likely impact of the brand new EU External Action Service. That pessimism was in part the result of conversations with British diplomats, for whom the ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

For believers in the potential of Euro-diplomacy, this blog has been a downer recently. I've worried about the EU's ability to lead on Bosnia. I've also cast doubt on the likely impact of the brand new EU External Action Service. That pessimism was in part the result of conversations with British diplomats, for whom the EAS seems to have barely made a ripple. In fairness, I should report on a much more positive recent conversation with a smart and ambitious young German diplomat. He indicated that the EAS is getting  quite a bit of attention in the German foreign ministry and that the younger generation of German diplomats is intrigued.

For believers in the potential of Euro-diplomacy, this blog has been a downer recently. I’ve worried about the EU’s ability to lead on Bosnia. I’ve also cast doubt on the likely impact of the brand new EU External Action Service. That pessimism was in part the result of conversations with British diplomats, for whom the EAS seems to have barely made a ripple. In fairness, I should report on a much more positive recent conversation with a smart and ambitious young German diplomat. He indicated that the EAS is getting  quite a bit of attention in the German foreign ministry and that the younger generation of German diplomats is intrigued.

In ten years, I could imagine pursuing a European ambassadorship over a German ambassadorship, particularly in parts of the developing world. This would partly be about funds. When it comes to aid, the EU may have a great deal more money to offer than my government.

He acknowledged of course that this will depend on how the EAS performs in its first years, but he did not believe it was beyond the realm of possibility that European diplomatic talent — even talent in the major countries — could start moving toward the EAS rather than national foreign ministries.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tag: Europe

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