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Security constellations in East Asia are often reduced to bilateral competition and territorial or maritime disputes. In this vein, the focus generally lies on the perceived military rise of China and the assumed unavoidable assertive turn in its foreign strategy. This article argues that neorealist interpretations of security issues in East Asia and the role of China that start from the level of bilateral relations tend to overlook the complexity of contemporary multi-player interactions. The European Union (EU) is often excluded from the cartographic mapping of the island disputes in the East and the South China Sea. This, and the modification of China's security strategy under the fifth generation of Chinese leaders, might allow Europe to position itself as a 'new' mediator. A European diplomatic intervention would be the only way for the EU to avoid being trapped in the security spirals evolving in East Asia as a passive 'follower'.

Despite recent economic problems, modern Ireland has achieved a lot. Today it is a developed country, a member of the European Union. But the path to success was not always a straight line. In addition, the impact of the EU membership on the situation in the country has not been all positive as Ireland is a small country with an open economy. The paper provides a general overview of Ireland's economic and political potential on the global scale; shows examples of the ups and downs of the Irish economy with reference to the historical facts; gives tips for getting out of difficult economic troughs.

The European Union has become a leading regional force in the progress towards a world free of state sanctioned judicial killing in the form of the death penalty. This article investigates how the EU has evolved its abolitionist position. It analyzes the development of the region's internal policy beginning in the European Parliament, to the rejection of the punishment being mandated as a Treaty provision, which evolves into an integral component of the external human rights project. The EU has now formulated technical bilateral and multilateral initiatives to promote abolition worldwide. This is most clearly evidenced in the EU playing an important role in the 2007 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and the strengthening of the resolution in 2008, 2010, and 2012. This article demonstrates that the EU's contribution to the abolition of the death penalty is a recognizable success story of human rights, and it is one aspect of the regions' policies that was rewarded in 2012 with the Nobel Peace Prize.