What kind of power?

Abstract The argument that the EU is a humanitarian – normative, civilian, civilizing – power has gained considerable attention. Echoing discussions about recent developments in the international system towards a post-Westphalian order, the EU's actual foreign policy is in many ways a test case for such developments. However, much remains to be done in terms of finding a satisfactory theoretical basis from which to examine this argument. The study of the putative humanitarian dimension to the EU's foreign policy may benefit from legal and normative theory and from sociological insights into modern politics. On this basis we may find a better starting point for examining whether the EU's humanitarian dimension is comprehensible as well as justifiable.