The Informal Way Out of the Stalemate: Informal Cooperation in CFSP/CSDP Negotiations

Karolina Pomorska's contribution will engage more deeply with the empirical chapters of the book, interrogating the evidence on sanctions against Russia, joint maritime operations, and defense cooperation as key sites of informal diplomacy. She will examine case selection, methodology, and the use of elite interviews, asking whether informality explains policy outcomes better than alternative variables such as power asymmetries or leadership entrepreneurship. She will also explore how informality interacts with legal constraints in CSDP missions and sanctions design.