Suchergebnisse

The move, with the Lisbon Treaty, from a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) to a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) must mean more than a change of name. This article pleads for a creative use of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the new mechanism in the area of defence offered by the Lisbon Treaty. Building on the continued will of European Union (EU) Member States to pursue the transformation of their armed forces towards expeditionary operations, notably by exploiting opportunities for further pooling and sharing of capabilities, we propose a Permanent Capability Conference as a high-level political platform to generate effective military convergence. Systematic alignment of national defence planning through such a permanent and structured process at the strategic level will enable each Member State to focus its defence effort on the right capabilities, to do away with redundant capabilities, to make maximal use of pooling and specialization, and to contribute to multinational projects to address Europe's strategic capability shortfalls. In times of austerity, there is no alternative to European cooperation if Europe wants to remain militarily relevant.

This book examines how the European Union can pursue a grand strategy and become a distinct global actor in a world of emerging great powers. At the grand strategic level, its sheer economic size makes the EU a global power. However, the EU needs to take into account that many international actors continue to measure power mostly by assessing military capability. To preserve its status as an economic power, therefore, the EU has to become a power across the board, which requires a grand strategy, and the means and the will to proactively pursue one. The authors of this book aim to demonstrate that the EU can develop a purposive yet distinctive grand strategy that preserves the value-based nature of EU external action while also safeguarding its vital economic interests. The book analyses the existing military capability of the European Union and its bottom-up nature, which results in a national-based focus in the member-states, impeding deployment capability. A systematic realignment of national defence planning at the strategic level will enable each member-states to focus its defence effort on the right capabilities, make maximal use of pooling and specialization, and contribute to multinational projects in order to address Europe's strategic capability shortfalls. A stronger Europe will therefore result, it is argued, a real global actor, which can then become an equal strategic partner to the United States, leading to a revitalized Transatlantic partnership in turn. This book will be of interest to students of military studies, European Union policy, strategic studies and International Relations generally.

Obwohl die USA ihre Führungsrolle innerhalb der NATO aufrechterhalten wollen, fordern sie aufgrund des Sparzwangs im Verteidigungsetat eine gemeinsame europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik, die diesen Namen verdient. Doch Europa ist unfähig, Verantwortung für internationale militärische Operationen zu übernehmen, ohne sich reflexartig den USA zuzuwenden. Libyen und Mali haben gezeigt, dass zahlenmäßig starke EU-Truppen mobilisiert werden können, jedoch auch offenbart, dass bestimmte militärische Potenziale nach wie vor fehlen. Von einer tragfähigen und langfristigen Konfliktlösungsstrategie kann keine Rede sein. Nötig ist daher ein ganzheitlicher Ansatz, der die Kooperation von militärischen und zivilen Akteuren vorsieht, um in internationalen Konflikten Sicherheit und Stabilität zu schaffen. NATO und GSVP könnten sich angesichts dieser Herausforderungen hervorragend ergänzen. Die Autoren haben hierfür drei konkrete Empfehlungen ausgearbeitet, die zu mehr transatlantischer Solidarität und zu mehr Effizienz bei internationalen Operationen führen können.