Decentring the analysis of EU foreign policy and external-internal legitimacy: (re-)introducing polity*

ABSTRACTThis article intends to further refine the multi-tiered debate on legitimacy in EU foreign policy by examining the external legitimacy of EU foreign policy within the wider context of the internal legitimacy of other polities in third countries, regions or societies. Through (re-)introducing and further developing the “polity” concept, this contribution presents a framework for analysing and comparing the (output) legitimacy of different authority structures within a given area. It calls upon scholars and practitioners to approach relevant polities in a decentred way, beyond state-centrism and before normative judgement about a polity’s nature (whether it is state-, ethnicity-, religion-, warlordism-based or a combination of these). The main argument is that, by gaining insight into the legitimacy of different kinds of polities in areas of interest to EU foreign policy, we gain insight into challenges and opportunities for the EU’s legitimacy and for the efficiency and effectiveness of its foreign...