Evropská zahraniční politika v arabském Středozemí a její vztah vůči islamismu 1995–2011

Abstract

The primary aim of this work is the analysis of the relationship between European foreign policy in the area of Arab Mediterranean and Islamism. Under the terms of European foreign policy, the author believes both the foreign policy of the EU and member states’ foreign policies are realized beyond the EU institutional framework. This work views the European Union and Islamism as structural powers. Structures in this context are comparatively stable organizational principles and rules, and structural power is endowed with the authority and capacity of setting down the rules of a game and determining how others will play this game. This approach enables European foreign policy, perceived in the conventional and structural foreign policy continuum in terms of Stephen Keukeleire’s definition, to cover sometimes neglected foreign policy dimensions. Although within the framework of international relations theory, social constructivist theory is undoubtedly important for gaining an understanding, this concept does not relate to any of the structural approaches of other international relations theories. It concentrates on the relation of EU foreign policy to authoritative regimes in Arab countries, to the opposition powers - particularly those using Islamic symbolism – and to civil society. The case study dealing with the relation between European foreign policy and Tunisia is included. This study demonstrates the internal political dimension and inconsistency of European foreign policy in this area, where the accentuated priorities of respect to human rights observance and democratization have become victims of the growing trend of securitization and proclaimed stress on stability hiding cooperation with the authoritative regimes.