International relations theory and European integration

The explicit effort to theorize about the process of European integration b egan within the field of international relations (IR), where neofunctionali sm and intergovernmentalism long remained the dominant schools of thought, With the relaunching of the integration process in the 1980s and 1990s, how ever, IR scholars have begun to approach the study of the European Union us ing more general, and generalizable, theoretical approaches. This article e xamines the recent debate among realists, liberals, rational-choice institu tionalists, and constructivists regarding the nature of the integration pro cess and the EU as an international organization. Although originally posed as competing theories, I argue, realist, liberal and institutionalist appr oaches show signs of convergence around a single rationalist model, with co nstructivism remaining as the primary rival, but less developed, approach t o the study of European integration.