Suchergebnisse

"Does the EU matter in international security? The authors identify and explain the drivers of and brakes to EU foreign security action, offer methods of assessment to ascertain influence, and conclude that the union has become a niche international security provider that has in turn strengthened EU foreign policy"--

Does the EU matter in international security? How can the deployment of EU crisis management operations to different regions of the world be explained? What have been their effects on the EU and its member states, on host states and societies, and on other international security providers? The authors identify and explain the drivers of and brakes to EU foreign security action and offer methods of assessment to ascertain influence. On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of EU security operations utilizing extensive primary resources and fieldwork, the authors conclude that the union has become a niche international security provider. However, the Common Security and Defense Policy, like other policy sectors of the EU, will remain a work-in-progress, partly finished, partly effective, and yet of interest to a world that has always expected more of the union than it has been willing to give. With a foreword by Javier Solana.

As change in European security behavior interfaces with parallel change in United States security priorities and approach, the transatlantic security relationship is being reshaped. The implications of this evolution in security cooperation are profound both for the European Union as it emerges into a new and uncertain state of development and for the Atlantic relationship that has for so long coupled the world's largest economies with a shared strategic vision. The authors challenge the view that — as a security actor — the EU is limited to soft or civil forms of power that lock it into a subordinate position to the US. Attention is focused on the structural capabilities and the political will with which the EU and its member states have responded to the deep changes in Europe's security environment. This combination of institutional development and converging security priorities is producing, the authors contend, a paradigm shift in the EU that is changing the traditional transatlantic relationship. The crucial but troubled role played by the United Kingdom in that relationship is given particular attention. The research on which the article draws includes recent interviews with security officials in Western Europe and the Balkans as well as with international corporations active in the security arena.