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This is one of 6 conferencesto be held before the March 2007 Brussels meeting entitled  ‘The European experience: 1957-2007’.Our preliminary conference is examining the record on external relations of theEC/EU. It will focus upon external relations, and how these have contributed toEuropean security over the period under consideration. We take the widestinterpretation of security: economic, peace, development, diplomatic andmilitary contributions, and neighbourhood security. Our perspective islargely that of the efforts of the EC/EU institutions, although we realisethat the member states are also major external players, both independently, andthrough the EC/EU. Although overlaps areinevitable, we will divide our preliminary conference into four themes. Withineach, we suggest certain areas that we may examine, although these are notexclusive suggestions:1.         The EC/EU and thegreat powers from the 1950s.--What role did the EC/EU playin the ending of the cold war?--In what ways, and why, wererelations between the EC/EU and the US unequal?--The EC/EU and the communistworld from the 1950s and the 1990s.--EC/EU relations with Chinaand India.--Have successive enlargementcreated an EC/EU that can be considered as a great power?2.         The economic andsocial dimensions of EC/EU external relations.--The EC/EU in GATT and theWTO.--How has the EC/EU dealt withthe question of free trade areas and of association with its neighbours?--What contribution has theEC/EU made towards the economic growth and human development of the ACP andother developing countries?--Do developing EC/EUmigration and immigration policies undermine the influence of its externalrelations.--Has the EC/EU contributed tothe development of human rights in the world, and amongst its neighbours?--Is there an EC/EU social andeconomic model that has underpinned external economic and social relations?3.         The birth of an internationalactor: principles and interests.--What role does the WesternEuropean Union have in postwar international security policy?--Is the EDC a genuineantecedent of the ESPD?--How have multilateralrelations – with UNO, NATO, Council of Europe, the European EconomicCommission, the CSCE/OSCE – increased the influence of the EC/EU in the world?--How effective was EuropeanPolitical Cooperation in the 70s and 80s.--What role have EC/EUexternal diplomatic representations had in extending its influence.--Does the EC/EU have aspecial responsibility towards Africa? If so, how has this been demonstrated?--Has an effectiveenvironmental dimension to external policies been developed by the EC/EU?--Has multilevel governance withinthe EC/EU acted as a break upon the emergence of the EC/EU as an effective internationalactor.4.         Conflict resolution,peace enforcement and peacekeeping.--Is the EC/EU an effective‘humanitarian actor’ in the world? Does the European Security Strategy reflectthis?--Has ESPD had a positiveeffect upon the role of the EU in the world?--How has ESPD affected EU-USrelations in the NATO context?--What lessons have beenlearned for the EC/EU in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia?--How well have EU policies onnon-proliferation, anti-mines actions, border controls etc been conceptualisedand developed ?--Is there an EU conflictresolution model? Can it be applied elsewhere?Modus operandi.This is a call for papers fromhistorians, international relations and political science experts, economistsand economic historians, human rights and security scholars, and those with aninterest in these topics who are prepared to look at the development of theEC/EU in these areas over time. We expect some papers to cover the wholeperiod, and others to focus on particular periods since the 1950s. We welcomecontributions from established scholars in the field, and also from juniorresearchers whose work reflects the interests of this group. Our conference at theUniversity of Cergy-Pontoise (North-West of Paris) will take place on Thursday 14thSeptember, Friday 15th September and Saturday morning, 16th September, 2006.  We should like to hear fromyou if you have a topic you would like to propose for a short research ordiscussion paper to present at this conference. These papers will be drawntogether for a second, larger conference in Brussels in 2007, where theexternal relations group will work with the five other thematic groups. A majorbook will then be published to assess the overall place of the EC/EU fiftyyears after its creation.  Housing and travelexpenses, within reason, will be met by the organisers of the conferences. Theconference will be funded by UMR IRICE (Paris-1, Paris-4, CNRS); the FrenchMinister of Research (ACI); the European Commission (Action Jean Monnet); theCICC of Cergy-Pontoise University; the Fonds de soutien de la Communautéd’Agglomération de Cergy-Pontoise.Working languages: English andFrench. Please contact beforethe 15th December, 2005 [warning : the date has been changed]Gérard Bossuat : gbossuat@aol.com ; gerard.bossuat@lsh.u-cergy.frAnne Deighton: anne.deighton@wolfson.ox.ac.ukfor further information,proposals, or any further questions relating to these themes.