Sanctions are the EU's sole coercive instrument of power short of military action (Brussels, mercifully, does not engage in warfare). The EU needs to understand their impact so that it can use them more effectively.
Do EU sanctions work?
The main theme of 2013 is likely to be the unraveling of the global economy and supporting political integration.
2012 saw continuing crisis in the eurozone, growing Euroscepticism and populism in some corners of Europe, faltering transitions in Egypt and elsewhere, more violence in Syria, a new leadership in China, and both Putin II and Obama II. So what will 2013 hold?
The EU needs to develop a more effective relationship with Algeria
The leadership election in the US and the selection in China are mirror images of each other. So are the challenges that each will face, with implications not just for the US and China, but for the rest of the world.
The outcome of the uprisings in North Africa is still in the balance and although it will be mainly up to the North Africans themselves to decide their future, Europe has a key role to play on the side of reform – especially Paris, Rome and Madrid.
The gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this week will be punctuated by angry statements on the Syrian…
If the EU has any real aspiration to be a normative power it must rethink its 'strategic partnerships' with the world's other powers, reflecting the importance of values like democracy, rather than ignoring them.
Putting the promotion of human rights at the centre of the EU's foreign policy is something I have focused on since I took up office. But to champion the kind of people that deserve our support requires that the EU overcome two key challenges, each one of which can undermine the struggle to build a better world.