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European countries work together in crisis management, conflict prevention and many other aspects of security and defence policy. Closer cooperation in this policy arena seems to be the only viable way forward to address contemporary security challenges. Yet, despite the repeated interaction, fundamental assumptions about security and defence remain remarkably distinct across European nations. This book offers a comparative analysis of the security and defence policies of all 27 EU member states and Turkey, drawing on the concept of ‘strategic culture’, in order to examine the chances and obstacles for closer security and defence cooperation across the continent. Along the lines of a consistent analytical framework, international experts provide case studies of the current security and defence policies in Europe as well as their historical and cultural roots.
The rise or resurgence of revisionist, repressive and authoritarian powers threatens the Western, US-led international order upon which Germany’s post-war security and prosperity were founded. With Washington increasingly focused on China’s rise in Asia, Europe must be able to defend itself against Russia, and will depend upon German military capabilities to do so. Years of neglect and structural underfunding, however, have hollowed out Germany’s armed forces. Much of the political leadership in Berlin has not yet adjusted to new realities or appreciated the urgency with which it needs to do so. Bastian Giegerich and Maximilian Terhalle argue that Germany’s current strategic culture ...
The present anthology stems from the perception of a widespread and manifest uneasiness concerning the business of military intervention in our times. Indeed, the West is for quite some time engaged in a deep introspection about his military intervention policies in the years to come and reflects about this. What will Western military intervention policies look like in the future; what kind of military intervention policies is wanted and what kind of military intervention policies is financially, politically and socio-culturally possible and militarily feasible? The hypothesis pursued in this volume states that, in the foreseeable future, we may see a different kind of military intervention policy and intervention posture of the West that will lead to different military interventions. It may be argued that we are witnessing the dawn of a new era, the era of military post-interventionism.
The book considers the main arms exporting countries, including China, Russia, and the US, as well as several European states, and the policies each employs in deciding advanced weapons sales to key regions of the world. It examines whether such sales are inherently stabilising or de-stabilising regarding regional security. Regions reviewed in detail include the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. Combat aircraft sales are a focus for the volume given both their practical and symbolic importance. The volume focuses on the behaviour and policies of the main arms exporting nations since the end of the Cold War, shifts in their arms export policies, and the tensions that can emerge within or between countries over proposed arms sales. It also considers the impact of countries that were previously only recipients of advanced weapons moving to develop their own defence industrial base.
This book analyzes the extent to which national strategic cultures of EU member states are compatible both with one another and the emerging multinational consensus expressed in the EU's European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The juxtaposition of ESDP and national strategic culture generates a map of adaptation pressures faced by EU member governments. Case studies of Austria, France, Germany, and the UK are matched with exploratory analysis of Denmark, Ireland, Spain, and Sweden. National strategic cultures define the realm of what is possible regarding national adaptation to international change in defense policy. The EU level serves as an intermediary level between the domestic and the international arenas.
The EU's 2003 European Security Strategy (ESS) was a milestone document representing the collective thinking of the EU member states on the challenges and security threats facing them at the beginning of the 21st century. This report aims to contribute to the review of the ESS currently underway in the EU which is scheduled to be discussed at the December 2008 European Council. The Committee assesses the strategy and its implementation and the changes in the international security environment since 2003 and makes a number of recommendations.
`In a concise and intellectually engaging manner, European Security since the Fall of the Berlin Wall succeeds in illuminating real changes in European security, as well as consequent changes in academic thinking. Frederic Merand, Martial Foucault, and Bastien Irondelle clearly and precisely link the different theories and levels of analysis found throughout these essays to develop a convincing new research agenda for complex security phenomena. Readers will easily identify common themes and perspectives in this creative and appealing contribution to research.' Markus Kaim, Head of the International Security Division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs `Right from its introduction, European Security since the Fall of the Berlin Wall will generate significant interest for readers. Each essay contained in this collection represents an excellent piece of scholarship and an accessible and vital contribution to thinking about contemporary international security problems.' Sean Kay, Department of Politics and Government, Ohio Wesleyan University
International demand for military crisis-management missions continues to grow and demand for troops continues to outstrip supply. Like other Western democracies, European Union member states, because of their wealth, relative military competence and commitment to human rights, bear a particular responsibility to expand the international communitys capacity for action. But while the EU has succeeded in defining a complex military-technical and political-strategic framework to boost its role and that of its member states in crisis management, its performance so far has fallen well short of its ambitions. This paper analyses what the EU wants to be able to do militarily its level of ambition a...
Since the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the Soviet threat to Western Europe, Europeans and the United States have had to re-consider the threats to their security, which have become unclear and unpredictable. More recently the shift in the economic and political balance away from the United States and Western Europe towards Asia, a revision in US defence thinking and the economic crisis have created a new situation to which the European Union (EU) and its Member States need to respond. The strong message from this report is that the pressures on European defence are changing radically with reduced budgets and a United States that will look increasingly to the Asia Pacific regi...
This book engages the view that students of International Relations need to break with the habit of defining power in terms of military capabilities of states. Featuring contributions from both upcoming and distinguished scholars, including Steven Lukes, Joseph Nye, and Stefano Guzzini, it explores the nature and location of ‘power’ in international politics through a variety of conceptual lenses. With a particular focus on the phenomenon of ‘soft’ power and different types of actors in a globalizing world, fifteen chapters assess the meaning of ‘power’ from the perspectives of realism, constructivism, global governance, and development studies, presenting discussions ranging from conceptual to practical oriented analyses. Power in World Politics attempts to broaden theoretical horizons to enrich our understanding of the distribution of power in world politics, thereby also contributing to the discovery and analysis of new political spaces. This is essential reading for all advanced students and scholars of international relations.