Description
The individual level of analysis has a long tradition in Foreign Policy Analysis. Since the early days of the discipline, the personalities, beliefs, experiences of leaders were considered among the most important factors behind the foreign policy choices of states. However, leaders’ individual characteristics have always been relegated to a minor role in the field of International Relations (IR), although a renewed and increasing interest can be observed in the last few years among IR scholars and observers. This contribution reflects on and discusses these issues in relation to Europe, by showing the promises and limits of the individual level of analysis for European studies.
