The quest for a European strategic culture : changing norms on security and defence in the European Union / Christopher O. Meyer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meyer, Christoph O., 1973-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

European Union--Armed Forces.

European Union.

European Union--Military policy.

European Union--Defenses.

Defenses.

Military policy.

Armed Forces.

Europe--Defenses.

Europe.

National security--Europe.

National security.

Physical Description:

xii, 211 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Summary:

The European Union is shaping up to become a security and defence actor. The EU has already conducted missions in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. But without a European strategic culture, a fully-fledged defence policy is likely to fail because of incompatible and persistent national beliefs and norms about when, how, and for what ends military force can be used. This book explores whether national strategic cultures have become more similar in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. It examines how the rise of new threats, foreign crises, and new institutions have affected strategic thinking in Britain, Germany, France and Poland. Using a range of social science methods, the study reveals for the first time how strategic norms in these key countries have changed. It also explores the implications of the findings for the future of European defence. The study represents a major contribution to applied and empirically grounded constructivist approaches to international affairs and European integration.

Contents:

1 A European Strategic Culture in the Making? Introducing a Constructivist Approach 1

Introducing the puzzle: the normative foundations of a European security and defence policy 2

A social science approach to studying norms 6

Outlining key findings 10

Conclusion: the path beyond 13

2 How do Strategic Cultures Change? Three Mechanisms of Normative Change 15

Strategic culture, norms and causality 15

Unpacking strategic culture and norms 19

Normative and cultural change: conditions, agents, processes 24

Towards a European strategic culture? Conceptualising normative change and convergence in Europe 27

Conclusion: on the path to Humanitarian Power Europe? 42

3 The Impact of Changing Threat Perceptions on Strategic Thinking in Europe after 1989 43

Threat perceptions and collective norms 43

Formative experiences, threat perceptions and strategic norms before the end of the Cold War 48

Cognitive and normative change after 9/11 and 11/9 59

Conclusion: towards a consensus on defence co-operation, but not on pre-emption 75

4 The Impact of Mediatised Crisis Learning on Collective Norms 78

The impact of post-Cold War crises on press debates 78

The qualitative analysis of media content 80

Bosnia: ethnic cleansing and the late resolve to act 83

Kosovo: 'never again' and the first cracks of Atlanticism 90

Iraq: the Atlanticist cleavage and the domestic authorisation crisis 98

Comparison across cases and countries 105

Discussion: political affiliation and cross-country similarities 110

5 Social Influence through Institutions: the Case of the Political and Security Committee 112

The ESDP set-up and the role of the PSC 112

The dynamics and variables of social influence 117

Social influence in and through the PSC? 120

Manufacturing consent on ESDP? The cases of the European Security Strategy, Artemis and Althea 132

Conclusion: a multiplier of social influence and piecemeal norm convergence 135

6 Do Europeans Think Alike About the Use of Force? Synthesising and Theorising the Findings 138

Converging strategic norms? Revisiting the hypotheses 138

A narrow and shallow European strategic culture? The compatibility of norms and identity conceptions 155

The easing weight of history or unlearning lessons? Examining and categorising cross-national variation 164

7 European Strategic Culture and the Prospects for European Defence 171

What kind of European defence is possible? Exploring key choices for ESDP's evolution and operation 172

Implications for European defence, diplomacy and decision-making 184

Appendix: Survey of Parliamentarians and Experts 189

I Personal characteristics and party affiliation 189

II Norms and perceptions concerning national security and defence policy 190.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 200-208) and index.

ISBN:

1403992800

OCLC:

69792642

Online:

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