On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, ESADEgeo presents The Global Context: How Politics, Investment, and Institutions Impact European Businesses. In twelve chapters, this open-access e-book discusses innovative research on the EU context and strategies for European businesses given their position within the Union and as players in a globalising world. ESADEgeo experts and external counterparts have collected their original applied research on the Union, its workings, and their practical impact on businesses for use in both educational and business contexts. The Global Context: How Politics, Investment, and Institutions Impact European Businesses begins with an introduction by editor Angel Saz-Carranza together with Marie Vandendriessche. The first chapter, “Europe’s Imperative”, was written by editor Javier Solana, President of ESADEgeo and former European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

The e-book is divided into four parts. The first part discusses the impact of institutional and political contexts on businesses. Ángel Pascual-Ramsay writes about global risks and EU businesses, while Antonio Roldan and Mujtaba Rahman use present-day examples to discuss the importance of political risk for European businesses. The second part of the e-book covers today’s trends in investment and EU businesses. It begins with a chapter by Javier Santiso, Javier Capapé and Tomás Guerrero that describes sovereign wealth funds as a growing source of financial firepower. Diego López then examines the major role of sovereign investors in the global economy from the European perspective. Next, Ivana Casaburi and Carles Brasó Broggi discuss the internationalisation of Chinese companies and their presence in Europe, while Adrián Blanco Estévez explains China’s renewed attractiveness for European firms. Part three takes a deeper look at the institutional environment for EU businesses. Ian Hurd raises an interesting question: What is the international rule of law? Bruce Jones and Katherine Elgin debate whether global governance can help us navigate the 21st century. Susanna Salvador, Adrià Albareda and Angel Saz-Carranza present research on regulatory agencies and regulatory networks in the European Union. Ryan Federo and Angel Saz-Carranza wrap up the third part of the e-book by describing a research approach to international governmental organisations with a specific focus on executive boards and strategy. Finally, in part four, José M. de Areilza discusses the future of EU integration in a chapter containing ideas and narratives to relaunch integration.

The e-book was released with the support of the European Commission through the Jean Monnet Programme within Erasmus+.