‘This welcomed volume contains a systematic, comprehensive and well-argued comparative analysis of a highly topical issue in EU studies, at the same time providing a welcomed antidote to current pessimism regarding the EU's role in world politics.’ – Emeritus Senior Professor Walter Carlsnaes, Uppsala University, Sweden.‘The edited book gently chips away the theory beyond merely looking at the power and actorness debates to reveal how the EU actually performs across a range of foreign policy issues by taking a comparative perspective that allows one to analyse between the declatory and operational European Union. Taking a case study approach across the three dimensions of governance/regulatory frameworks; peace and state building and crisis management and missions, it makes for compelling reading as it offers an insightful audit as it unpacks the foreign policy performance of the EU by drawing attention to challenges for collective action framed between normative discourses and interest articulation. It is informative and relevant for the practitioner and the researcher.’ - Professor Ummu Salma Bava, Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India.'Overall, this book is interesting for both those who seek a comparative analysis of the EU’s foreign policy and those who pursue more detailed research on the EU’s role, power and infl uence in international affairs.' - Manrico De Vincentis, The International Spectator, 2016