The Brussels Bubble

Rebecca Adler-Nissen is the Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen. A leading voice on international relations, diplomacy, technology and the EU, she has published books and articles in major outlets, including International Organization and Cambridge University Press, and has received numerous international prizes and honours, including the Susan Strange Award and the Best Book in International Political Sociology. She led the ERC project, DIPLOFACE, which funded research on this book. Rebecca serves as Director of the National Centre for AI in Society in Denmark, an interdisciplinary centre of excellence dedicated to exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, tech, geopolitics and society. She is a member of the European Council of Foreign Relations and is regularly used as an expert on radio, TV, and other news outlets. Kristin Anabel Eggeling is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen and an affiliated researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Her research has won international recognition and awards in the field of diplomatic studies, and she has published in major scholarly outlets including European Journal of International Relations, Review of International Studies, and International Political Sociology. Kristin was a researcher in the DIPLOFACE project and conducted the ethnographic research on which this book is based. Before working in academia, she worked in the European Parliament in Brussels and in the German International Chamber of Commerce in Doha.

• Preface; 1. In the Brussels bubble; 2. Love-hating the digital; 3. Classifying balloons; 4. 'Boring handshakes'; 5. Digital diplomats; 6. The show must go on(line); Conclusion; A note on writing and researching this book; Index.

'What a gem of a book. 'The Brussels Bubble' offers a richly textured, and refreshingly original ethnographic journey into the everyday world of EU diplomats and eurocrats. Combining sharp analytical insight with vivid storytelling, it punctures clichés about 'Brussels'. It reveals not only the human logics and lived negotiations that animate European governance, but also the transformative-and often overlooke-role of digital technologies in shaping work, authority, and connection inside the bubble. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand how the EU really works in a digitally mediated age-beyond institutions, beyond policy, and inside the lived experience of its practitioners.' Stephanie C. Hofmann, European University Institute