Princeton
University
pu.small.shield.gif (1097 bytes)

 wwstext.gif (3915 bytes)
  
Biography
Books
Articles and Chapters
Media
Teaching
 EU Program and Seminars
Conferences
Videos
Links
   Books in English

 

Now in paperback!

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, February 2007

ISBN 978-0-691-12115-4
 

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, September 2005
ISBN 0-691-12115-4

The European Union, the world's foremost trader, is not an easy bargainer to deal with. Its twenty-five member states have relinquished  most of their sovereignty in trade to the supranational level, and in international commercial negotiations, such as those conducted under the World Trade Organization, the EU speaks with a "single voice." This single voice has enabled the Brussels-based institution to impact the distributional outcomes of international trade negotiations and shape the global political economy.

Trading Voices is the most comprehensive book about the politics of trade policy in the EU and the role of the EU as a central actor in international commercial negotiations. Sophie Meunier explores how this pooling of trade policy-making and external representation affects the EU's bargaining power in international trade talks. Using institutionalist analysis, she argues that its complex institutional procedures and multiple masters have, more often than once, forced its trade partners to give in to an EU speaking with a single voice.

Through analysis of four transatlantic commercial negotiations over agriculture, public procurement, and civil aviation, Trading Voices explores the politics of international trade bargaining. It also addresses the salient political question of whether negotiating efficiency comes at the expense of democratic legitimacy. Finally, this book looks at how the EU, with its recent enlargement and proposed Constitution, might become an even more formidable rival to the United States in shaping globalization.

Endorsements

"This impressive book offers the first authoritative study of the trade policy of the European Union--the world's largest trading block. Trade policy represents a key example of the European Union as a complex bundling of supranational and intergovernmental features. This book offers an excellent balance between theoretical argument and explanation of how the European Union's trade policy works--an essential though highly understudied area of European Union policy-making. It will appeal to those interested in trade policy, the European Union, and the development of international organizations."

--Pascal Lamy, Former European Union Trade Commissioner

"Trading Voices is the most theoretically sophisticated, wide-ranging, and compelling book yet on the development of the European Union as a global trading power. It will be useful for scholars and students of the EU and trade policy, as well as government officials on both sides of the Atlantic."

--John T. S. Keeler, University of Washington, author of The Politics of Neocorporatism in France

"Trading Voices marks a real contribution to scholarship on the European Union, the international politics of trade, international political economy, and theories of negotiation. Very well written and accessible, it is a theoretically sophisticated, well researched, important piece of work."

--Alberta Sbragia, University of Pittsburgh, author of Debt Wish: Entrepreneurial Cities, U.S. Federalism, and Economic Development

Selected reviews

 

Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press
December 2001
co-authored with Philip H. Gordon
ISBN: Cloth 0-8157-0260-4
ISBN: Paper 0-8157-0261-2

The French Challenge deals with France's effort to adapt to globalization and its consequences for France's economy, cultural identity, domestic politics, and foreign relations. The authors begin by analyzing the structural transformation of the French economy, driven first by liberalization within the European Union and more recently by globalization. By examining a wide variety of possible measures of globalization and liberalization, the authors conclude that the French economy's adaptation has been far reaching and largely successful, even if French leaders prefer to downplay the extent of these changes in response to political pressures and public opinion. They call this adaptation "globalization by stealth."

The authors also examine the relationship between trade, culture, and identity and explain why globalization has rendered the three inseparable. They show how globalization is contributing to the restructuring of the traditional French political spectrum and blurring the traditional differences between left and right. Finally, they explore France's effort to tame globalization—maîtriser la mondialisation—and the possible consequences and lessons of the French stance for the rest of the world.

Selected reviews:

 

Books in French

 

Paris, France: Presses de Sciences Po

Sciences Po Gouvernances - Collection Academique

ISBN 2-7246-0974-3 / Code SODIS 951 791 4

Translated by Sylvain Bremond and Sylvie Kleiman-Lafon

December  2005

 

 

  • Review by Bernard Cassen in Le Monde Diplomatique, April 2006

  • Review by Jerome Torre, Le Monde, 27 March, 2006

  • Review in Le Figaro, 28 December 2005:

    "Chercheur à l'université de Princeton aux Etats-Unis, Sophie Meunier décrypte les conceptions défendues par les promoteurs d'une meilleure intégration européenne et leur impact sur les négociations commerciales internationales depuis quarante ans. Une analyse salutaire pour comprendre les difficultés rencontrées dans les tractations européennes et internationales opérées dans le cadre du cycle de Doha. L'union fait la force, de Sophie Meunier aux éditions les Presses de Sciences-po, domaine gouvernance, 278 pages, 22 ."

  • Review by Alain Dauvergne, Notre Europe, 29 November 2005

 

Winner of the 2002 France-Amerique award

Nominated for the 2002 Prix Europeen du Livre d'Economie

Paris: Editions Odile Jacob
April 2002
co-authored with Philip H. Gordon
ISBN: 2-7381-1143-2

S’adapter ou disparaître sous la domination américaine : la globalisation économique représente un défi pour toutes les sociétés. Il est toutefois particulièrement dramatique en France, du fait de notre tradition étatique, de notre souci de justice sociale, de notre attachement à notre langue, à notre culture, à notre identité, ainsi que de notre vieille rivalité avec les États-Unis.

Beaucoup de Français s’accordent à penser que la mondialisation comporte des bienfaits, mais ils sont nombreux à s’inquiéter de ses effets sur la répartition des revenus, l’emploi, la culture et la position de la France dans le monde. Qu’en est-il vraiment? La France ne s’adapte-t-elle pas plus nettement qu’on ne veut bien le dire ? Et l’idée de " mondialisation maîtrisée "? Peut-elle devenir réalité ou bien est-ce un mythe inventé par les hommes politiques afin de rassurer le public?

"Un travail impressionnant pour mettre au jour les racines historiques et intellectuelles de la résistance française à la globalisation et pour montrer comment la France réussit à s’adapter sans s’américaniser." Stanley Hoffmann

 

Selected reviews: