Michael J. Geary

Michael J. Geary is professor of Modern European History at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology where he holds the Jean Monnet Chair in History of European Integration. He has held research fellowships at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Fulbright Commission, the College of Europe, and the Institute for European Global Studies at the University of Basel. A First Class honours graduate of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, he holds a PhD in History and Civilisation from the European University Institute, Florence.

The project

Title: The EEC, South Africa and the Apartheid System: The Sanctions Dilemma

"This book project seeks to shed new light on European Economic Community’s (EEC) responses to the South African apartheid regime from the early 1960s through to its collapse in the early 1990s and with it the emergence of majority Black rule. The book focuses on three parallel but inter-related aspects of the apartheid regime through an EEC lens. First, it examines the domestic debates at the member states level and political responses to apartheid. Historic connections between South Africa and states like Britain and Ireland helped to engender interest in South Africa, at least within élite circles. Second, there is an exploration of the role of the different Anti-Apartheid Movement including the French branch and their efforts at influencing national governments to pursue a more aggressive policy towards the South African regime. Anti-apartheid organisations had established themselves in a range of Western countries, beginning in Britain in 1959. Third, the monograph explores the EEC/European Communities response to the apartheid system through a detailed analysis of newly released archive material in French and EU archives and, in particular, examines how French foreign policy vis-à-vis South Africa impacted the Community’s response after 1973 or how the Community influenced France’s foreign policy towards apartheid SA. Third, the book focuses on the UN and the frequent discussions of apartheid during the period covered here. A more activist General Assembly from the 1970s onwards resulted in even more annual resolutions condemning South Africa and/or calling for more meaningful sanctions against the regime. The monograph examines French foreign policy responses at the UN and Paris's efforts to ensure continuity in its voting pattern while simultaneously seeking to maintain solidarity with her European partners. Therefore, the the book will exploit archival material from French foreign ministry archives during this stay."

Hosting Institution: Centre des Archives diplomatiques de La Courneuve

Selective Bibliography

• Geary, Michael J., An Inconvenient Wait: Ireland’s Quest for Membership of the EEC, 1957-73 (Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, 2009).
• Geary, Michael J., Enlarging the European Union: The Commission Seeking Influence, 1961-1973 (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).
• Geary, Michael J. et al., (ed.), Critical Reflections on the European Union's New Pact on Migration and Asylum: A Fresh Start? (Oxford: Hart Publishing, forthcoming).
• Geary, Michael J., ‘Le prix de l'adhésion: L'Irlande, la Politique commune de la pêche et l'intégration européenne au début des années 1970’ in Relations Internationales, no. 198 (2024), pp. 35-52.
• Geary, Michael J., ‘The European Union: Navigating an Uncertain Future’ in Cathy Hartley (ed.) Western Europe 2024 (London: Routledge, 2023), chapter 1 (revised and reprinted in 2024 and 2025).