Strategic Autonomy And The Defence Of Europe

Strategic autonomy is the latest fashionable concept, in Paris and Brussels alike. It appears no fewer than 24 times in the most recent French strategic review and there is not a single European strategic document, however insignifi cant, that makes no mention of it.

This book analyses whether the EU’s drift towards European strategic autonomy presents a challenge or a window of opportunity for its small member states to advance their security interests. The volume presents small states’ perceptions of European strategic autonomy, highlighting their expectations and concerns. The chapters focus on the depth and breadth of European strategic autonomy, national security considerations, assessment of the impact on transatlantic relations, the expected outputs, and its potential impact on the EU’s institutional structure. It also shows how systemic circumstances and the interests of powerful states, either belonging to the EU (France, Germany, and Poland) or having a significant say in European security architecture (the US), establish opportunities and constraints for the small states to shape European strategic autonomy. In particular, the study focuses on the diverging interests of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, and the Netherlands. It demonstrates that, in most cases, European strategic autonomy is perceived not as an alternative to NATO but as a supplementary element that could facilitate the development of national military capabilities, indigenous defence industries and resilience to non-military threats. Ultimately, the book suggests that national approaches towards European strategic autonomy mainly stem from pragmatic national security and foreign policy considerations, while largely ignoring grand strategic ideas. This book will be of much interest to students of European politics, security studies, and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

From the establishment of NATO in 1949, Western Europe has been under Anglo-American tutelage in military and security matters. Several countries, most notably France and (since reunification) Germany, have experienced this as a hindrance to the pursuit of their particular interests. Since 2008, the European Commission has actively joined the quest for “strategic autonomy” within NATO. The elections of Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron in 2016-17 further widened the Atlantic rift, while the COVID-19 crisis with its colossal economic costs has, in turn, exacerbated the already worsening geopolitical tensions with states like Russia and China. With chapters on the politics and economics of European defence, on France, Germany, and Russia, the EU’s energy provision, the militarization of migration control, and the restructuring of the transatlantic bond, this volume offers an up-to-date, critical assessment of the militarization of European integration, written by established scholars in the fields of international relations and security studies.

This is an open access book. With the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, European security has been put on high alert. The implications of the Russian military invasion are many and difficult to grasp in full. However, the need for greater European strategic autonomy appears increasingly evident. The book argues that strategic autonomy may be reached—also in the short run—if differentiated integration is seen as an asset rather than a challenge. While the EU (together with NATO) remains the core in such a system, there is a multitude sub-regional integration processes that need to be taken into account to get the full idea of how European strategic autonomy can be achieved.

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.

Examining the interplay between geopolitics, the strategic priorities of Europe's most powerful nations, Britain, Germany and France, and the evolution of NATO and CSDP, this book unveils the mechanics of the tension between conflict and cooperation that lies at the heart of European security politics.

This book examines the evolution of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) from its inception in 1998 to the present day. Using the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism, it examines both the successes and failures of the CSDP. Drawing on a series of interviews with officials and researchers from various EU institutions, NATO, and diplomatic missions of EU member states, it assesses what has instigated changes in the CSDP, and why some events have proven more determining and influential than others. The book reviews six crises that have shaped the CSDP, including the Yugoslav Wars, the Second Gulf War, the Libyan campaign, the Ukrainian crisis, the Syrian crisis, and Brexit, in order to understand how real-life events have influenced policy. In this context, the book defines the term ‘European Strategic Autonomy’ dynamically, as the residual effect of negotiation over time. It will appeal to government officials and policymakers, as well as students and scholars of European politics and international relations.