"Given the increasingly turbulent world we leave in, it is more important than ever to understand the ways in which external and internal contestation impacts on the European Union's role as an international actor. Badell has produced a rigorous, empirically-rich and comprehensive analysis of normative contestation which is a must-read for both scholars and practitioners of European foreign policy."

-Ana E. Juncos, Professor of European Politics, University of Bristol, UK

"This book is a must-read when insider sceptics and (former) external partners try to undermine a half-century of the EU's foreign policy. It illustrates the EU's existential struggle to preserve its international role with topics at the core of the nationalist-populist agenda attacking EU integration-an excellent contribution to the research on EU foreign policy and norm diffusion in the multilateral international order."

-Michal Natorski, Assistant Professor, Maastricht University & United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Netherlands

This book examines the effects of norm contestation on EU foreign policy through three significant empirical cases: arms control, migration, and gender equality. The subject is particularly relevant in the current context of increasing contestation of the liberal international order. Drawing on norm research and European studies literature, the book applies the concept of norm contestation to the broader study of EU foreign policy.

Diego Badell is Assistant Professor in International Relations and European Studies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain. Prior to this role, he was Research Fellow at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). His research focuses on EU foreign policy and international norms, particularly multilateral institutions. He has published in Public Management Review, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, International Relations, Journal of Common Market Studies, European Security, and Global Affairs.