The EU's Soft Balancing Model: Origins and Future — Anders Wivel

This episode of The IR thinker explores how the European Union exerts influence in world politics without relying on traditional hard power, in conversation with Professor Anders Wivel. Drawing on his work on soft balancing, the discussion examines how the EU uses institutions, diplomacy and economic tools to shape outcomes while avoiding open confrontation, and how this differs from both hard balancing and soft power. The episode looks at inclusive and exclusive forms of institutional soft balancing, key historical successes and failures, the tension between national sovereignty and collective decision-making, the importance of “plasticity” in EU governance, and what EU practice reveals about sanctions, engagement with non-members and the role of non-state actors.Anders WivelProfessor Anders Wivel is Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen. His core research interest is how small states manage power asymmetry and vulnerability in international politics, engaging critically and constructively with the realist – particularly neoclassical realist – tradition. He has served as Chief Investigator and Deputy Director of Research for the Danish Parliament’s independent inquiry into Denmark’s military engagements in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, co-chairs the “Small States in World Politics” section of the European International Studies Association, and is an active member of the Global Research Network on Peaceful Change.Publications:Small States in the European Union: What Do We Know and What Would We Like to Know?The Security Challenge of Small EU Member States: Interests, Identity and the Development of the EU as a Security ActorSmall States and the War in UkraineThe EU’s Soft Balancing Governance Model: Origins, Characteristics and Prospects for the FutureContent00:00 - Introduction01:21 - Defining Soft Balancing vs Hard Balancing03:16 - Soft Power vs Soft Balancing: Key Differences05:12 - Relevance of Soft Balancing for EU Governance07:08 - Inclusive vs Exclusive Institutional Soft Balancing13:11 - Key Historical Milestones in EU Soft Balancing18:06 - Lessons from Soft Balancing Failures21:12 - Balancing National Sovereignty with Collective Decision-making24:26 - The EU’s Institutional Structure: Too Many or Too Few?28:01 - The Role of Plasticity in EU Governance Adaptation34:53 - Successful and Unsuccessful Soft Balancing with Non-Members38:00 - Causes of External Soft Balancing Failures41:20 - Approaching Sanctions in Soft Balancing43:09 - Official EU Resolutions on Soft Balancing44:25 - Soft Balancing and International Relations Theories48:53 - Challenges in Implementing Soft Balancing52:40 - Soft Balancing in a More Centralized EU53:52 - Regions Outside the EU and Soft Balancing Lessons56:17 - The Role of Non-State Actors in Soft BalancingFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.