Normative Power Europe Meets Israel

The book draws on some of the scholarship in perception studies and “Normative Power Europe” theory. The study of perceptions, although dating back to the mid-1970s, is gaining renewed currency in recent years both in international relations, in general, and in European Union studies, in particular. And yet, despite the significance of external perceptions of the European Union, there is still a lack of theoretical forays into this area as well as an absence of empirical investigations of actual external role conceptions. These lacunae in scholarly work are significant, since how the European Union is perceived outside its borders, and what factors shape these perceptions, are crucial for deepening the theory of “Normative Power Europe.” The book analyzes Israeli perceptions towards “Normative Power Europe,” the European Union, and NATO through five themes that, the book argues, underscore different dimensions of key Israeli conceptions of “Normative Power Europe” and NATO. The book seeks to contribute to the existing research on the European Union’s role as a “normative power,” the Union’s external representations, and on Israeli-European Union relations more broadly.

Pardo…is the most prominent of these Israeli researchers, and his latest book is therefore a most welcome addition to the field. Pardo’s main contribution is that he connects his own findings on external Israeli perceptions of the EU, Europe more generally, and individual member countries to the literature on the EU’s normative power. Pardo has correctly identified a certain lacuna, which he fills with many years of careful research, both quantitative and qualitative, on Israeli perceptions of the EU…. [T]his book is a most valuable contribution to the discourse, and its author remains a towering figure in the academic literature on EU–Israel relations., This book offers a fascinating study into Israeli perceptions on a number of key foreign policy issues. It looks into Israel’s relations to Europe and to NATO. It chronicles how Israeli politicians flirted with membership of the European Economic Community in the 1950s and more recently the European Union (EU) and examines how NATO membership is perceived in the country. Through the Normative Power Europe framework, media analysis and survey research Pardo offers a careful narrative of how Israelis see themselves in the world today and how foreign policy has developed accordingly. He finds that although Israel sees itself as a nation that is close to Europe, he finds very limited diffusion of EU norms and values into Israeli society and politics. This fascinating book is a must read for anyone with an interest in Israel-Europe relations., The complexity of the EU’s relationship with Israel has been a neglected topic in recent years. Normative Power Europe Meets Israel: Perceptions and Realities fills this gap. It provides depth and richness to our understanding of one of the EU’s most complicated, yet crucially important, relationships., This is an important book not only because it provides an empirically rich account of the EU’s relations with Israel, which is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and challenging areas for EU foreign policy, but also because it heralds a new generation of normative power Europe studies. Rather than rejecting the concept, the author takes the normative power approach to the next level by carefully and provocatively focusing on two core tensions: external perceptions (within third countries) and trade, economic and scientific agendas (from the EU). Therefore Pardo’s arguments should be must-read for all scholars and practictioners working on the EU in world politics.

Sharon Pardo is Jean Monnet chair ad personam in European studies in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.