Integration under anarchy: Neorealism and the European Union

Abstract:

The process of integration and the pacification of Western Europe can be seen as one of the most significant developments in international relations at the turn of the century. Yet the European Union (EU) remains under-theorized and neglected in the neorealist canon. This article explains the difficulty of neorealism at explaining the EU. At a historical level, the breadth and depth of European integration challenge neorealist predictions regarding sustained cooperation, relative gains, interdependence, international institutions, balance of power, and bandwagoning. At a systemic level, the EU manifests anomalous forms of mixed hierarchy and functional differentiation. Neorealist attempts to develop auxiliary theories to account for the anomalies created by the EU has created a degenerative research program that is either incomplete, logically flawed, or empirically false. This article concludes by pinpointing the failure of neorealism, proposing theoretical renovations, and drawing policy implications.