This book was one of six short-listed books for the prestigious Peter Birks SLS Prize for outstanding contribution to legal scholarship for 2009 and also was the winner of the 2009 Universities Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) Book Prize for the 'most substantial and original contribution to knowledge in the area of European Studies'.





It was reviewed in 47(4) Journal of Common Market Studies (2009) p.421 part of the review reads:



'The European Union treaties place the worldwide promotion of human rights and democracy at the heart of both the common foreign and security policy and Community development and economic co-operation with third countries. Urfan Khaliq's painstakingly detailed study analyses the extent to which the EU has put these lofty ideals into practice. .... This book is solidly based on meticulous factual, as well as legal, research and represents the most detailed empirical study to date on human rights in the EU's external relations. .....Dr Khaliq's analysis never follows the easy route of simply castigating the EU for failing to base its external relations purely on human rights concerns - though he does not shrink from pointing out clear examples of failures to react to egregious human rights violations - but is unfailingly balanced and even-handed. Few could quarrel with his conclusion that while EU policies in this area are neither consistent nor coherent, nevertheless the EU sometimes achieves its objectives and in some respects makes an important contribution to the promotion of human rights. This book is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the constraints on, and possibilities of, human rights diplomacy.'



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This review concludes, 'Khaliq has written an impressive book. It is rich both in empirical detail and legal analysis. Khaliq has made a significant contribution to a most important discussion. The book is highly recommendable to any reader interested in the relationship between EU foreign policy and international law.'