Expert Interviews and Triangulation

Subtitle
Foreign Policy towards Latin
Book Title
Expert Interviews and Triangulation: Foreign Policy towards Latin America in Europe
Year of Publication
2014
Author(s)
TRUEB Bettina
Organization Name
SAGE
Publisher
SAGE
City
London
Country of Publication
England
Full Date
2014
ISBN or ISSN
978-1-4739-4849-5
Considered Countries
Spain
United Kingdom
Germany
Category
Books
Theme
Subregion - European Union
BIREGIONAL RELATIONS UE - LAC
Strategic Partnerships
BIREGIONAL DIALOGUES UE-LAC
Government
Keyword(s)
Political Science
International Relations
Latin America
European Union
Diplomacy
Parliamentary diplomacy
Foreign Policy
Diplomatic representatives
Abstract
This case study is based on a PhD project carried out between 2008 and 2012. The study sought to uncover the origins of EU Member States' divergent Latin America policies. Such policies continue to hamper European Union attempts to create a more unified European approach towards Latin America. Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany were chosen as influential Member States endowed with distinct national policies towards Latin America in order to analyse the origins of such differences. The project began by carefully mapping the different levels of policy activity towards the region and then selected two cases for in-depth study: development cooperation and the interaction of national policy with the European Union's strategy. In a study of contemporary foreign policy, it was vital to speak with policy-makers. I interviewed national diplomats from all three countries under study, as well as EU officials and Latin American diplomats based in Brussels. There are several considerations that must be taken into account when embarking upon expert interviewing. This case study outlines how I set up the empirical section of my study to mitigate some of the pitfalls associated with elite interviewing, including accessibility of interviewees, strategic rhetoric, unreliability and unwillingness.