Europe's new defense ambitions implications for NATO, the US, and Russia


Book Description

At the European Union's Helsinki summit of December 1999, European leaders took a decisive step toward the development of a new Common European Security and Defense Policy aimed at giving the EU a stronger role in international affairs backed by a credible military force. This Marshall Center Paper analyzes the processes leading to Helsinki by examining why and how this new European consensus on defense issues came about. It takes the pulse of the EU's emerging defense policy and touches upon the main controversies and challenges that still lie ahead.







Europe's New Defense Ambitions


Book Description

At the EU's Helsinki summit in 1999, European leaders took a decisive step toward the development of a new Common European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) aimed at giving the EU a stronger role in international affairs backed by a credible military force. This report analyzes the processes leading to the ESDP by examining why and how this new European consensus came about. It touches upon the controversies and challenges that still lie ahead. What are the national interests and driving forces behind it, and what steps need to be taken to realize Europe's ambitions to achieve a workable European crisis mgmt. capability?




Defending Europe


Book Description

Defending Europe seeks to clarify the competing ambitions, the contrasting visions and the trans-Atlantic tensions related to the recent quest by Europe for autonomy in the sphere of security and defense. Scholars from both sides of the Atlantic explore the development of ESDI within NATO, the revival of the WEU and the launch of the EU's Common European Security and Defense Policy. Among the issues discussed are the Euro-American capabilities gap, concerns regarding decoupling, discrimination, and duplication, and the complications posed by NATO/EU enlargement. Two contrary conclusions debate whether ESDP is more likely to strengthen or undermine the Atlantic Alliance. This informative foray into the trans-Atlantic security and defense issues is a crucial addition to the ongoing dialogue concerning this shifting and evolving relationship.




Ambitions Versus Capabilities


Book Description

The European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) represents a long- term project on the part of the European Union (EU) members to perform a broad range of operations, including crisis management, peacekeeping and peacemaking, known as the Petersberg Tasks. The EU's goal is to develop capabilities for autonomous military action in crises in the event that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a whole is not engaged. Progress in developing capabilities necessary to support the ESDP has, however, been disappointing. Indeed, there is currently a mismatch between EU capabilities and ambitions. The shortcomings in EU capabilities reflect Cold War procurement and military planning as well as an unwillingness of most of the EU governments to spend more on defense. Although increasing military budgets would help to reduce the mismatch, EU members would also have to improve the efficiency with which funds are spent. This would require changes in the EU's military-industrial base, procurement policy, technology acquisition and R&D practices as well as in enhanced transatlantic cooperation. Achieving the goals of the ESDP will also require the EU member nations to deepen their consensus about their purposes and thereby reduce the many ambiguities that currently surround the ESDP.




The EU’s Defense Ambitions: Understanding the Emergence of a European Defense Technological and Industrial Complex


Book Description

In Europe, security and defense cooperation have long been the realm of member states and other security organizations like NATO. But recent efforts at the EU level have begun to create a European defense sector—which presents unique challenges and opportunities.




The European Security and Defense Policy


Book Description

The emergence of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) in the last two-thirds of the 1990s and continuing into the new century, has been a complex process intertwining politics, economics, national cultures, and numerous institutions. This book provides an essential background for understanding how security issues as between NATO and the European Union are being posed for the early part of the 21st century, including the new circumstances following the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. This study should be of interest to those interested in the evolution of U.S.-European relations, especially in, but not limited to, the security field; the development of institutional relationships; and key choices that lie ahead in regard to these critical arrangements.




Future War and the Defence of Europe


Book Description

Future War and the Defence of Europe offers a major new analysis of how peace and security can be maintained in Europe: a continent that has suffered two cataclysmic conflicts since 1914. Taking as its starting point the COVID-19 pandemic and way it will inevitably accelerate some key global dynamics already in play, the book goes on to weave history, strategy, policy, and technology into a compelling analytical narrative. It lays out in forensic detail the scale of the challenge Europeans and their allies face if Europe's peace is to be upheld in a transformative century. The book upends foundational assumptions about how Europe's defence is organised, the role of a fast-changing transatlantic relationship, NATO, the EU, and their constituent nation-states. At the heart of the book is a radical vision of a technology-enabling future European defence, built around a new kind of Atlantic Alliance, an innovative strategic public-private partnership, and the future hyper-electronic European force, E-Force, it must spawn. Europeans should be under no illusion: unless they do far more for their own defence, and very differently, all that they now take for granted could be lost in the maze of hybrid war, cyber war, and hyper war they must face.




Future NATO


Book Description

Future NATO looks at the challenges facing NATO in the 21st century and examines how the Alliance can adapt to ensure its continued success For more than 70 years, the North Atlantic Alliance has helped to preserve peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. It has been able to adjust to varying political and strategic challenges. We must ensure that NATO continues to be effective in the future. This requires looking ahead, challenging habitual approaches, exchanging ideas, and advancing new thinking. I highly recommend Future NATO to policymakers, military professionals and scholars alike, as it offers necessary critical and constructive analysis of current and future challenges posed to our security and defence.Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister of Defence, Germany Since 1949, NATO has successfully upheld common principles and adapted to new realities. As Future NATO examines, the Alliance is facing a new set of external and internal challenges in the decades to come. The Alliance and its partners need to remain committed to future changes. I recommend this excellent study to all, but especially to the younger generation of scholars and future policymakers. Trine Bramsen, Minister of Defence, Denmark Over the last 70 years, Europe has lived in peace and prosperity because of NATO, with unity as our most important weapon. We may have our differences, but we will continue to work on our common cause to promote peace, security and stability. To effectively do so, NATO needs to continuously adapt to changing security situations. An important current challenge is to ensure European Allies take more responsibility for their security. But we also need to look at future challenges and find innovative solutions for them. Future NATO offers a useful analysis that can help us prepare for what is to come for the Alliance. Ank Bijleveld, Minister of Defence, The Netherlands




What Ambitions for European Defence in 2020?


Book Description

"The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) has reached an important milestone in its development. This year marks its tenth anniversary. This book is therefore an important contribution to the strategic debate, looking ahead to where ESDP could and should be ten year from now. It covers the range of key issues that we need to consider in taking ESDP forward into its second decade - policy, analysis of challenges, strategy, partnerships, structures, capabilities"--P. 7.