Toward a European Defense Union

For decades, Germany has supported the idea of a common European army. For various reasons, this target has not been accomplished. In the post–Cold War decades, the US commitment to European security and the relatively stable security environment relegated more ambitious European defence efforts to second-rank status.

Today, however, the long-term commitment of the United States is increasingly questioned, and Europe’s security environment has seen fundamental changes in the recent past. In light of the US turn toward the Asia-Pacific and the acceleration of instability in Europe’s Eastern and Southern neighborhoods, Germany has taken the lead in reviving enhanced European security cooperation and integration. Cooperative efforts are necessary in times of economic turmoil and the West’s relative decline on the global stage.

Roderich Kiesewetter is the foreign affairs representative of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.