'Civilian Power' or Something Else? The European Union on its way beyond 'Civilian Power'

The European Union's (EU) external appearance is often described as a ?civilian power? (CP). However, due to increasing military capabilities and coercive approaches in international politics, it apparently moves towards a ?harder? kind of power. Applying a role-theoretical approach, the study explores what kind of power the EU actually constitutes and thus studies whether the EU's characterization as a CP is still empirically valid. In order to do so, the work takes into account two parts of a role-conception: the self-perception of the EU and the view of how the non-EU ?others? perceive it. Hereby, the Union's self-perception is investigated by means of qualitative text-analysis of central EU-documents. The perception of ?others? is studied with the aid of a self-conducted expert-survey. The result of this approach is ambivalent. The EU still constructs itself as a CP, but is aware of the increasingly use of coercive and military means. The perception ?from outside? reflects the EU's harder approaches in the international arena, but clearly does not perceive it as a predominately military actor. Thus, the labelling of the EU as a CP is not suitable anymore; instead it constitutes an actor shifting away from the ?civilian ideal?

A Genuine Green Giant? The European Union's role as a leader in international climate politics

This thesis examines the notion of the European Union (EU) being a leader in international climate change (CC) politics. It aims at finding out whether the Union is indeed a leader in the area and how this leader role is constructed. As a leader is only a leader when it is perceived as such, the study takes into account a distinct role-theoretical approach that analyzes the self-image of the EU and perceptions of non-EU actors on the EU’s leadership. Interviews and qualitative data of CC negotiators and diplomats both from the EU and third states serve as the main empirical material for this endeavour. While the EU is seen by both the EU and non-EU outsiders as a leader on CC that is pursuing a ‘soft’ leadership strategy – a distinctive combination of structural and instrumental with directional leadership modes – there is some incongruence between the EU and others’ perceptions regarding to specific elements of the leader role. The EU may therefore, I argue, be characterized as a strong and genuine but somewhat restricted leader in the climate regime

Still a green leader? The European Union's role in international climate negotiations

Since the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) has presented itself as a leader on climate change. Recently, however, this picture has been challenged in the media and by non-governmental organization representatives. The aim of our article is to evaluate the Union's present role in the area of international climate politics. We do this by scrutinizing the EU's own role conception, but also, and primarily, by investigating the perceptions and expectations of government representatives from outside the Union itself. Our results - reflecting external perceptions of the EU after COP 14 (Conference of the Parties) in December 2008 - demonstrate that the EU is indeed still seen as a green leader. Officials from both developing states and major powers share the view of the Union as a largely coherent and credible leader, though some observers question the correspondence between what the EU says and what it does. The EU is mainly perceived to lead by example by being a role model for other state actors. We discuss how these results fare in the light of the COP 15 Copenhagen meeting in December 2009

Outcomes in Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation and History of Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights from GARFIELD-AF

BACKGROUND: Many patients with atrial fibrillation have concomitant coronary artery disease with or without acute coronary syndromes and are in need of additional antithrombotic therapy. There are few data on the long-term clinical outcome of atrial fibrillation patients with a history of acute coronary syndrome. This is a 2-year study of atrial fibrillation patients with or without a history of acute coronary syndromes

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes